The NBA Draft Is Fixed

Photo: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images

Or it was in 1985, the draft lottery’s first year, when commissioner David Stern opened a curiously creased envelope to reveal the first pick would go to the New York Knicks, desperately in need of Patrick Ewing’s star power. Or did he know which envelope to open because it was cooler, having sat in a freezer beforehand? There are multiple theories.

The NBA Draft Is Fixed