NBA Commissioner Adam Silver takes subtle jab at other teams after Mavs win Lottery

The Commissioner seems glad that a team that didn't tank was rewarded with the first overall pick.

Feb 15, 2025; San Francisco, CA, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver speaks in a press conference during All Star Saturday Night ahead of the 2025 NBA All Star Game at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

The NBA was set ablaze when the Dallas Mavericks won the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery three months after trading away Luka Doncic and setting their franchise on fire. If there was ever a way to convince people the Lottery was rigged, this would be a great example.

The way the Lottery is conducted now makes it impossible to achieve certain results, and the new Lottery odds are supposed to deter teams from tanking, even if that doesn't always stop teams from doing so. And it seems the NBA Commissioner is happy a tanking team didn't get the first pick.

READ MORE: Mavericks coach Jason Kidd drawing serious interest from Knicks

May 22, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; NBA commissioner is Adam Silver presents Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (not pictured) with the Michael Jordan Trophy for winning the most valuable player award for the 2024-25 season before game two of the western conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Adam Silver recently appeared on FS1's "Breakfast Ball" where he discussed the Mavericks winning the first pick.

"We call it a 'Lottery', and I think some people think it was a one in a million chance that Dallas was going to win. Remember, the worst-performing team had a 14% chance at winning [the first overall pick], which means there was an 86% chance they wouldn't get it. Dallas had roughly a 2% chance, so the losingest team had a 7-times better chance. 2% is 2%, it's going to happen. When people say, therefore, that the lottery is broken, I have a different viewpoint, which the purpose of the Lottery is to disincentive teams from tanking. Here, you had a team that was clearly trying, whatever people think of that [Luka Doncic trade], they were trying to win, then Kyrie [Irving] got injured, then Anthony Davis got injured, and so then they found themselves in the Lottery."

Adam Silver credits the Mavericks for not tanking

"They were trying to win. Then Kyrie got injured, and Anthony Davis got injured. So they found themselves in the lottery. Odds are odds and that’s how it turned out."

(🎥 @BrkfstBallOnFS1 )

pic.twitter.com/xflTpPm3e1

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 4, 2025

It's too early to tell if the recent lotteries will stop teams from tanking, as the Atlanta Hawks won the 2024 Lottery with small odds too. It's a tough position to be in for the NBA, as they don't want teams to tank, but they want to increase parity, and it's hard for smaller market teams to get better without high draft picks.

READ MORE: Legendary Duke coach gave highest praise to future Maverick Cooper Flagg

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