David Stern And The 1985 Draft

This was the first NBA Draft that used the lottery as a tool for drafting rookies. The main purpose of its creation was to motivate bad teams into not losing game in an attempt to get an earlier draft pick. Before the use of the lottery the number 1 draft pick was automatically given to the team with the worse record in the league.

However that fact is not the main reason why this particular draft is important. The main reason this draft is considered historic is because of the fraud that was allegedly perpetrated by NBA Commissioner David Stern during it. at 5:30 in the video above, you will be able to see Stern picking the number one draft envelope.

Now Watch him pick it again slowly. The first thing you might notice is the fact that Stern does not automatically pick the draft envelope on the top of the pile but instead rummages through it as if looking for a specific envelope. Now look at the envelope he does pick. Do you see something wrong with it? What you might not notice if you are not looking for it is the fact that the number one draft envelope is bent on the corner. a bended corner is the normal technique used by amateur magicians in their identification of a predetermined card in their "Pick a card" trick. This highly dubious act would eventually send Patrick Ewing to the Knicks where he would have a long career of packing the Madison Square Garden (however he was never able to win a championship). Either way we here at The Rogue Life want to call David Stern out on his flagrant act of Fraud.