Adam Silver Clears the Air: Mavericks’ No. 1 Pick Win Was Pure Luck, Not Lottery Rigging
The 2025 NBA Draft Lottery sent shockwaves through the basketball world when the Dallas Mavericks—a team with slim odds—snagged the No. 1 overall pick. With generational talent Cooper Flagg waiting at the top of the board, speculation instantly erupted across social media and talk shows. Was it rigged? Was the NBA playing favorites again?
On Wednesday morning, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the swirling controversy during an appearance on Fox Sports 1’s “Breakfast Ball”, and he didn’t hold back.
“They were trying to win,” Silver said bluntly. “Then Kyrie [Irving] got injured, then Anthony Davis got injured. So then they found themselves in the lottery. Odds are odds, and that’s how it turned out.”
It’s a simple statement, but one meant to put a full stop to the conspiracy theories that gained traction the moment Dallas was announced as the winner of the lottery. After trading Luka Doncic in a blockbuster midseason deal to land Anthony Davis, the Mavericks had been making a legitimate playoff push. But their hopes quickly unraveled as Davis, Kyrie Irving, and promising big man Dereck Lively II all suffered untimely injuries.
The result? Dallas fell into the Play-In Tournament, where they were knocked out by the Memphis Grizzlies in a tough 120-106 loss. That defeat, as painful as it was, unexpectedly opened the door to a lottery appearance. And what happened next was historic.
“The odds were low, but not zero,” Silver reiterated. “We’ve seen crazier things happen. That’s why we have the lottery—to add that element of unpredictability.”
Despite only having a 3% chance, Dallas came away with the ultimate prize: a shot at drafting Cooper Flagg, the phenom from Duke who just completed one of the best freshman campaigns in college basketball history. It’s no secret the Mavericks front office is now laser-focused on using that pick wisely, and Flagg seems like a lock.
But the noise hasn’t died down. Many fans, especially from rival franchises, continue to question how a team that made such a bold trade midseason—and seemingly threw in the towel after it backfired—ended up in such a favorable draft position.
Mavs general manager Nico Harrison responded indirectly earlier this week, pointing to what could have been. “If we stay healthy, I don’t think we’re having this conversation. This roster was built to compete.” He’s not wrong. Davis was dominant when active, and the chemistry between him and Kyrie was beginning to show promise before injuries pulled the rug out from under them.
In the end, the Mavericks’ fall wasn’t intentional—it was circumstantial. And that’s exactly the defense Adam Silver is standing by.
Now, Dallas finds itself with a golden opportunity. With no other picks in the draft, the pressure to hit a home run with the No. 1 selection is immense. All eyes will be on the Mavericks on Wednesday, June 25 at 8 p.m. EST, when the first round tips off.
And while the controversy around their lottery win may linger in the shadows, the Commissioner’s message is loud and clear: “The lottery worked the way it was supposed to. The rest is just noise.”
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