For many years, there has been rampant speculation on whether the results of the NBA Draft Lottery are pre-determined.
The NBA has vehemently denied that accusation, but former player Dikembe Mutombo made basketball fans (and conspiracy theorists) think twice about that on Tuesday afternoon.
Hours before the 2016 NBA Draft Lottery, the former 76ers star congratulated Philadelphia on landing the No. 1 pick in a Twitter post that included a picture of himself and former teammate Allen Iverson. As soon as his message began to gain steam on social media, Mutombo deleted his tweet and immediately apologized for jumping the gun.
And Mutombo turned out to be right as the 76ers later landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 lottery.
So, the question still remains: did Mutombo have any inside information, did he genuinely jump the gun or was he just having some fun on social media?
Even some current 76ers players seemed intrigued by Mutombo’s initial tweet.
The 76ers entered Tuesday night’s lottery with the highest odds, 25 per cent, to win after finishing with a pitiful 10-72 record.
We’ll see how well he defends his initial tweet now.
