In the early 1980's, teams that fell short of making the NBA playoffs were tanking to compete for higher draft picks, the league had issues with respectability and attendance was waning. David Stern, who had recently became commissioner, had an idea: to dissuade teams from intentionally sabotaging their own seasons, they would take the bottom 7 teams and hold a lottery. 7 envelopes would get spun in a plastic drum and when each was opened, the pick would be revealed.
The first year, the guaranteed 1st pick would be Patrick Ewing. And there was every reason to make sure that the high profile New York Knicks got that first pick to increase exposure for the league in the #1 media market.
What takes this from conspiracy theory to legitimate possibility are a number of factors. First, there was a connection between the firm responsible for handling the lotto and the financial group that owned the Knicks. Second, a few people associated with the event intimated that such a thing was a possibility. And third, a video of the event shows the envelope with the Knicks hitting the drum and forming a crease, which became the immediate first pick.
Given some of the issues around the NBA over the years: other drafts that seemed conveniently picked, a western conference finals that seemed fixed for the Lakers, and other back room shenanigans, it certainly seems possible. But whether or not this draft was fixed may never be known.
https://www.si.com/longform/2015/1985/ewing/index.html
On June 18, 1985, the first “lottery style” NBA draft took place, using envelopes to determine pick order for the worst 7 teams. The NBA was dying down and everyone wanted a good team in New York (the leagues biggest market). The New York Knicks were desperate for a center and 7-footer Patrick Ewing from Georgetown was set to go #1 in the draft. It seemed as if the stars had aligned when commissioner David Stern pulled the Knick's envelope for the number one pick on live television. But many believe the stars didn't align, and that the draft was set up to make the Knicks a good team. There are two main theories, the frozen envelope, and the bent corner. The first theory is simple. Before putting all the envelopes into a ball to be randomly mixed up, the Knick's envelope was frozen so that David Stern would know which envelope to grab. And just like that, the Knicks have their center and go on to be a good team. The other theory is, that Jack Wagner bent the corner of the folder by throwing it against the plastic ball that they were put into by him. David Stern then felt for the folder with a bent corner and pulled out the Knicks envelope. Share your thoughts or other insights in the comments.
Malone was available when they selected at number 11. Malone averaged 27.7 and 12 his third season in the league. With Jordan and Malone, do the Bulls win the 1988 championship? (they lost to the Pistons in the semifinals that year.) How many championships do Malone and Jordan retire with? Is this why we F5?
DOWNLOAD: NBA Legacy: 1985 + Draft [v2.8]
CHANGES:
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A lot of ratings changed. There is a lot of room for improvement, but it's still better than the 2.6 and 2.7 versions.
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Added a bunch of missing players
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All players have now their correct locations. I also started adding college information
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Completely changed the 2016 NBA Draft
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The created players filling the "future" NBA teams (Hornets, Heat, T'Wolves, Pelicans, Raptors and Grizzlies) are now far older, a bit worse and with longer contracts, so they don't make a significant impact on the league
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Corrected a few broken links on players images, updated a few photos too
HOW TO PLAY
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Unzip the legacy-draft-2.8 file you downloaded
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Start a new game using the NBA Legacy 1985 - v2.8 custom roster
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The roster can only contains 3 draft files. You have to manually import the draft files after the 1987 draft. To do it: after you finished the 1985 draft, go to Draft > Future Draft Scouting. Under the 1988 draft, click "customize" and select the "NBA Legacy Draft - 1988" file. Have fun and repeat this process every year.
EXTRA NOTES:
- All credits go to /u/brianpaulandaya who created the roster and the draft file. I only updated his huge work.
DOWNLOAD: NBA Legacy: 1985 + Draft [v2.5]
CHANGES:
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Ratings revamped.
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Re-Added the 1986 and the 1987 draft class back to the roster file.
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Combined Legacy: 1985 and Legacy Draft: 1986 - 2014 into one file (needs WinRAR or other programs like that).
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Added the 2015 NBA Draft.
FUTURE PROJECTS:
- NBA History (formerly known as "NBA Legacy")
^ May or may not be delayed until further notice due to academic reasons. But I'm working on it when I have the time.
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NBA Legacy: TBA
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NBA Legacy Draft: TBA - 1984
Extra Notes:
- Extremely humongous help from /u/alexnoob, without him, you wouldn't be receiving this update. So, big thanks to him.
For the uninformed, here is an article/video on the event that changed the New York Knicks franchise forever.
tldr: Some believe that the 1985 NBA Draft Lottery was rigged so the Knicks, a then horrible team, would get Patrick Ewing because with him in a big market city, the NBA would get more revenue. It is said that the envelop that held the Knicks was frozen so David Stern could tell which one was the Knicks and pull that one out which would as we all know, change the Knicks franchise, and the history of the NBA.
Hey guys, I joined Reddit basically to ask this, so hopefully this works!
I started up a season in 1985 and wanted to play through with the draft classes but was wondering about the salary cap. It starts at 60mil, but I think in a current day start up it's closer to 90mil. Will this automatically change as I play towards current day?
https://twitter.com/JLew1050/status/1454634218928148483?t=6ciaj8bTqboODFzlrINvuQ&s=19
>HYPOTHESIS
Another popular sports conspiracy theory is that of the 1985 NBA Draft; namely, the accusation that David Stern rigged the lottery in favor of the New York Knicks so they could acquire Patrick Ewing. The evidence comes in the form of this video, where it is alleged that David Stern, while loading the tumbler, crimps New York's card against the edge to make its card easier to draw. In addition, the time he takes to select the card is also used as evidence that he had it out for New York, as he would have to feel around for the crimped card.
>PLAYERS
David Stern, NBA Commissioner at the time
Jack Joyce, NBA's head of security and the man who turned the tumbler.
Many high-level staffers at the NBA, the New York Knicks, and the accounting firm that audited the NBA in 1985.
>INCENTIVES
The Knicks were and still are a very large market NBA team, and a star like Patrick Ewing on one of the largest teams in the country would lead to a strong local and national following, selling seats to Knicks games and moving merchandise as well.
>ESTIMATED LIKELIHOOD
Almost 0. There is little to no evidence that can't be easily explained away in this scenario. The video in question is the only piece of evidence; if the Knicks' card was crimped by hitting it against the side of the tumbler, several other cards also would have been crimped as at least two others were thrown with enough force to hit the inside of the drum. In addition, there's no evidence that Stern knew the card that crimped was New York's. In addition, there's no rationale for David Stern to pick the Knicks in particular or Patrick Ewing in particular--if he fixed the draft once, why would he not do it again to send other stars to major markets? Stern's favoritism of the Knicks is called into question by his suspension of a good chunk of the team in 1997 for an oncourt fight that took place. As a result, while this is a very popular sports conspiracy, it's very likely that this did not occur. I vote to deem it debunked.
> Gregg Popovich politely declined to talk about closing in on Don Nelson for the most career regular season NBA coaching wins. > > Reporter shifts to asking Pop what his key to success has been. > > Pop's reply: "Key to success? Draft Tim Duncan. After that, stay alive."
Nikola Jovic is a 18-year-old, 6' 10" forward from (you guessed it) Serbia projected to be selected in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft.
"Nikola Jovic" is very similar to "Nikola Jokic," the name of a famous basketball player for the Nuggets of Denver, Colorado.
Similar sounding names can often be a source of confusion, but sometimes these coincidences can also be amusing, such as in this example of "Nikola Jovic" and "Nikola Jokic."
This infographic is really interesting. Crazy to see what an outlier contract Jordan had for his last two seasons, and even crazier to see how much Curry will make at the end of his current contract.
https://i.imgur.com/M7HlIm3.png
Wish this was the sort of thing that could get discussed on /r/nba, but apparently not lol. Anyway, curious what people's thoughts are on their list and what y'alls nominations would be
Bill Simmons went all out this year for his Worst *"Most Regrettable" Contracts Draft, bringing on Wozny Lambre and Joe House to go through a multi-round snake draft of the worst contracts in the NBA. I thought it was pretty interesting and decided to tabulate the results. Pod is here and the draft explanation begins around 55:30.
Below is their draft order and some of their comments, and below that are their picks and the contract figures.
- Davis Bertans - Classic good stats on a bad team guy who stole money. He's not 1 dimensional, he's half dimensional and cannot guard anyone.
- Michael Porter Jr. - This contract is a nightmare. They didn't have to do it. It's the kind of contract that can kill half a decade. He's played 125 games in his career.
- John Wall - he aint playing.
- De'Aaron Fox - the numbers, especially in the clutch, are awful. He's being paid to be the guy but he's being outplayed by his teammate. You go in big at the deepest position in the league and now he's hard to trade.
- Westbrook - If I'm the clippers, I wouldn't trade him for Morris and Reggie Jackson. That makes me worse. I wouldn't trade him for wall if I'm the rockets. I've done that.
- Ben Simmons - he's getting paid like a number 1 offensive dude and he's a number 4. But the diva act, the lack of improvement and season sabotage... and you're paying this dude 33 million?
- Klay Thompson - He's going to make 50 million (based on trade kicker) dollars a year. You talk about injury? He's coming off an ACL AND an Achilles, and he's getting paid like he does what Jokic does.
- Tobias Harris - I saw him in person 9 days ago and I can't tell you a single thing he did.
- Markelle Fultz - He got a 50M for 1 season for the Magic where he averaged 12 ppg on 46% shooting. What's going on in Orlando? They thought he was the next MCW
- Kevin Love - He's the OG of bad contracts. Poster child of demanding a trade when nobody wants you. He's playing well but overpaid.
- Talen Horton-Tucker - I've been watching basketball my entire life - what does this guy do? I can't understand the excitement around him for the life of
DOWNLOAD: NBA Legacy: 1985 + Draft [v2.6]
CHANGES:
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Ratings revamped. There is a lot of room for improvement, but it's still better than the 2.5 version.
-
Added a bunch of missing players
-
Added the 2016 NBA Draft
Extra Notes:
- All credits go to /u/brianpaulandaya who created the roster and the draft file. I only updated his huge work.
