Why does the NBA hide the drawing of the ping pong balls ?

[mrjap2x]

It just doesn't make sense.

[hooperflash]

have they ever done that, even in the past?

crazy huh lol, what's so special about a cardboard with the team's logo.

SHOW US SOME BALLS!

[will_spurs]

It just doesn't make sense.

Easier to rig.

[Bruno]

NBA is hiding the drawing of the lottery balls because it is less dramatic and spectacular than the whole envelop show they are showing on TV. If there were some way to make the balls drawing more entertaining, they will show it instead of what they show. It's just a TV rating thing.

And the idea that they aren't showing it because it's rigged, is crazy.

[mrjap2x]

At least it wasn't fixed in 1997. I don't think stern loves the spurs to fixed it for the them

[capek]

Didn't they used to do a ping pong draw? Am I just dreaming that up? Has it always been via envelops since they switched to the current draft formula?

[Killakobe81]

NBA is hiding the drawing of the lottery balls because it is less dramatic and spectacular than the whole envelop show they are showing on TV. If there were some way to make the balls drawing more entertaining, they will show it instead of what they show. It's just a TV rating thing.

And the idea that they aren't showing it because it's rigged, is crazy.

Interviews with goofy kids and dumb blondes are entertaining?!

[Killakobe81]

No but I'd prefer to see the balls, people that win The Power Ball find it plenty exciting

[pgardn]

No but I'd prefer to see the balls, people that win The Power Ball find it plenty exciting

And people that play power ball and watch are hard up for entertainment.


Just kidding. To each their own. I personally dont get it.


Bruno's explanation...

[Wild Cobra Kai]

It's like showing the judges deliberations for Miss America: you'd know the winner right away. There's more suspense when they open the envelopes for the 14th pick on up to #1. Everyone knows the odds order, so if someone's envelope isn't opened, you know they jumped at least into the top three picks.

[Killakobe81]

It's like showing the judges deliberations for Miss America: you'd know the winner right away. There's more suspense when they open the envelopes for the 14th pick on up to #1. Everyone knows the odds order, so if someone's envelope isn't opened, you know they jumped at least into the top three picks.

I guess ... well if they did show it (the balls) i guess you run the risk of having the balls repeat (example: Charlotte showing up again after both balls were chosen) to show the balls they would have to go back to giving everyone an equal chance in the lottery. SO if you do a weghted drawing it would be boring to watch the machine spit balls, but I would prefer seeing the balls if the teams all had equal chances at winning, if not that WOULD suck.
And the envelope stuff is way cheesy especially the interviews and the commercial before the last 3.

[will_spurs]

NBA is hiding the drawing of the lottery balls because it is less dramatic and spectacular than the whole envelop show they are showing on TV. If there were some way to make the balls drawing more entertaining, they will show it instead of what they show. It's just a TV rating thing.

And the idea that they aren't showing it because it's rigged, is crazy.

Every other lottery I can think of, including the dra for the groups in the World Cup, is done using balls and having personalities perform the draw. The whole envelop thing is for stuff like movie awards and so on, typically rigged events.

Having a NBA draft fully above su ion is somewhat more important to the league than a relatively meaningless TV rating.

[Killakobe81]

Every other lottery I can think of, including the dra for the groups in the World Cup, is done using balls and having personalities perform the draw. The whole envelop thing is for stuff like movie awards and so on, typically rigged events.

Having a NBA draft fully above su ion is somewhat more important to the league than a relatively meaningless TV rating.

Great points ...

[hater]

And the idea that they aren't showing it because it's rigged, is crazy.

because that never happens in real life

[will_spurs]

It's like showing the judges deliberations for Miss America: you'd know the winner right away. There's more suspense when they open the envelopes for the 14th pick on up to #1. Everyone knows the odds order, so if someone's envelope isn't opened, you know they jumped at least into the top three picks.

Put all the balls in a big glass bowl, with numbers on them. Draw the first, remove all the balls with that number. That's the #1 pick. Rinse, lather, repeat. Then open the balls from 14th to 1st.

People could even try to guess which team got which number based on the apparent density of balls of a certain number (warning: Twitter might explode).

[coyotes_geek]

Interviews with goofy kids and dumb blondes are entertaining?!

No. That's just filler because opening 14 envelopes won't fill a 30 minute tv time block.

[Bruno]

Every other lottery I can think of, including the dra for the groups in the World Cup, is done using balls and having personalities perform the draw. The whole envelop thing is for stuff like movie awards and so on, typically rigged events.

Having a NBA draft fully above su ion is somewhat more important to the league than a relatively meaningless TV rating.

The draft lottery process is way more complicated than the usual soccer world cup drawing. You can read how it works here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_Draft_Lottery

As you can see the draft drawing process isn't TV friendly. Being above su ion isn't a priority for the NBA because, as far I know, there are very little su ion about it. Saying that, the NBA could do something very easily to reduce su ion by putting the video of the real drawing on their website.

[Obstructed_View]

Because it would be more boring than the Lebron decision show. Drawing combinations of four numbers 50 times would just suck to watch.

[hater]

they could easily stream the whole thing through nba.com/lottery

[K-State Spur]

As Bruno said, it's not TV friendly as a weighted lottery.

As I heard it, NOH's combination came up first - then CLT, then CLT again, then CLT again, before they got WAS with the fifth draw.

FWIW, in recent years, they have opened the room to many members of the media to watch and - to a person - they have written that it's overly complicated, but not fixed.

[kidd_91]

why not hand out the appropriate number of balls to each of the teams representative. Then have them dump them in live on TV, then shoot them out to a long tube that's covered in the front. Then instead of opening envelopes just slide back the front one ball at a time. Best of both worlds, you get to see everything happen and you still get the suspense of one pick at a time.

[Beaverfuzz]

Bring back the rigged draft from 1985!

[DMC]

If the league is going to purchase a franchise, they should do everything necessary to avoid creating the appearance of impropriety. If that means sacrificing the insane excitement over the draft lottery as it is, so be it.

Having said that, it serves MJ right to miss the 1st overall, after he allowed or perhaps even instructed his team to fail so horribly. It serves the Hornets right because they did not tank (or not as bad as the Lolcats anyhow) to get the 1st overall pick. In the long run, it's going to be better for the NBA.

[coyotes_geek]

I'm sure we can't be too far away from ESPN turning the lottery into a month long reality TV series where all the team representatives have to live in the same house with each other while performing zany challenges. Don't tell me people wouldn't tune in to watch Chandler Parsons getting pissed at that hipster Gilbert kid for blocking him from that hot russian broad.

And America, you too can get in on the action. Just text your vote for which team you think should win the NBA draft lottery and make your voice be heard! (standard text messaging charges do apply)

[Bruno]

And if you have some doubts about the lottery being rigged, read this article:
http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2012...draft-lottery/