NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
Despite entering the lottery with only 1.8% odds, Dalla’s Mavericks landed the top choice For this year’s upcoming NBA draft.
The unexpected result triggered countless theories over the sports world. Many floated theories that suggested that NBA gave Mavs an advantage after the team traded superstar Luka Doncic to Los Angeles Lakers in February. Dallas will now have the opportunity to draft Duke Standout Cooper Flagg.
Former Lakers star Shaquille O’Neal became one of the latest high-profile figures to chime into the debate. The four-time NBA champion remembered a 1992 story about the late NBA Commissioner David Stern.
CLICK HERE for more sports cover at Foxnews.com
Shaquille O’Neal will be interviewed during the Pointet built different media event in Cargo Hall on August 28, 2022 in Sydney. (Brett Hemmings/Getty Images to TLA)
O’Neal, who was drafted by Orlando Magic in 1992, claimed that Stern was approaching him before that year’s draft lottery and asked about his favorite NBA destination.
NBA Great Shaquille O’Neal Floats Theory On Blue Origin Flight
“[He] pulled me to the side. “You want to play where it’s cold or where it’s hot?” “Said O’Neal.” He asked me. I said, ‘Hot’ and then he smiled and I smiled. “
Former NBA Commissioner David Stern, a member of the 2014 class of Inductors in Basketball Hall of Fame, is listening to a question during a news conference in Springfield, Massachusetts, on August 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)
A few months later, O’Neal saw when Orlando, Charlotte and Minnesota landed the top three choices.
“Minnesota was No. 3. Charlotte was No. 2, and then Orlando, Florida, No. 1,” he said. “I was like (while I was doing a question mark). I didn’t think much about it. You hear a lot of these conspiracy theories. There are a lot of situations that can make these things sound good.”
O’Neal said he would avoid using the phrase “conspiracy theory”, but he described the situation as “very interesting.”
