NBA Lottery: Why Charles Barkley's Lottery-Rigging Concerns Are Legit

The National Basketball Association implemented a lottery system in 1985 to prevent teams from tanking at the end of the season to obtain a higher pick. This could be called rigging their chances, which now seems ironic after an interview with Charles Barkley on ESPN 1000's Waddle & Silvy Show.

In the interview, Barkley discussed how the New Jersey Nets, who are moving to Brooklyn after this season, will probably get the number one pick for much more than "basketball reasons."

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"I can’t say this, but I’m going to be watching the draft lottery very closely because I don’t want no shenanigans...I’m going to be very leery if Anthony Davis ends up in Brooklyn. You know, I’m going to be very leery because I know the NBA has a lot riding on that new arena, especially if Deron Williams leaves New Jersey. They didn’t get Dwight Howard. I’m going to be very leery if New Jersey gets that number one pick.”

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As a Minnesota Timberwolves fan, I'm no stranger to conspiracy theories when it comes to the NBA. But, look at who is talking here. This is Charles Barkley. Barkley is arguably the new face when it comes to NBA analysts and has a prominent role with the league.

In other words, NBA commissioner David Stern cannot be happy about this right now. In reality, it may not be Stern's fault that the recent lottery results have suggested such a thing.

Last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers got the number one pick in the draft exactly one year after losing LeBron James. In a weak draft, the Cavaliers got the one sure thing, when they selected Kyrie Irving.

In 2010, the draft again had one good quality player in Kentucky guard John Wall. The number one pick fell into the hands of the Washington Wizards who's owner, Abe Polin, just happened to be close friends with Stern. (Polin died prior to the lottery, and new owner Ted Leonsis is reaping the benefits.)

2009 saw Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin head to the Los Angeles Clippers. The results were not seen immediately as Griffin sat out the 2009-10 season with a knee injury, but two years later Stern would give Griffin a sidekick in Chris Paul who had a deal to the Los Angeles Lakers nixed due to "basketball reasons."

(You know the reason? The only thing better than one money making juggernaut in Los Angeles is two money making juggernauts.)

The list goes on with Chicago native Derrick Rose falling into the Bulls' lap in 2008. The new franchise in Oklahoma City getting a jumpstart in landing both Kevin Durant (second overall in 2007) and Russell Westbrook (fourth overall in 2008). And of course, LeBron James (an Akron native) headed to Cleveland in 2003.

Meanwhile there have been two small market teams that have won the lottery since then, but both were years where the draft was weak. Milwaukee snatched Andrew Bogut from Utah in 2005 and Toronto received Andrea Bargnani in 2006.

This was to give the little guys hope that one day they could get the number one pick, but we know what's up here.

There are going to be plenty more accusations of a rigged lottery as we draw closer to that special day in May where a team like the Charlotte Bobcats draw the number one pick, Stern crumples the paper and tells the behind the scenes drawers to "draw again."

However if more higher ups are starting to see this pattern what does this say for the confidence people have in this process? It's not good news for the National Basketball Association.