NBA Draft Lottery 2012: 20 Weirdest Moments in NBA Draft Lottery History

Well, the future of 14 teams is decided tonight when the NBA Draft Lottery takes place as the numbers are loaded into each team's slots and we get to find out how lucky each of these teams are.

Or do we?

What goes on tonight has been so strange, so historically weird that it ought to be televised in prime time on basic cable for everyone to see, because there's always a lot going on at these lotteries.

Either a team picks one of their strangest players to send out to the lottery or they nab a creepy general manager who is only on television one or two times a year for interviews with their local Fox Sports station.

So, in order to get us all geared up for what is sure to be an exciting and interesting draft lottery tonight, I've collected the weirdest moments since 1985, when the lottery first took place.

20. The Draft Lottery Numbers, Historically

Throughout the history of the lottery, things have seemingly never gone the way you would think they would.

The team with the best chance at landing the top pick in the draft has won the lottery just three times with the Nets in 1990, the Cavaliers in 2003 and the Magic in 2004.

Conversely, a team with less than three percent chance at winning the lottery has also won it three times with the Magic in 1993, the Bulls in 2008 and the Cavaliers in 2011.

It seems like the best slot to be in (although statistically it's not true) is somewhere between second and sixth, as teams in that magic window have won the lottery 15 times out of 22 tries.

19. Irene Pollin Stands with Mikhail Prokhorov

In one of Mikhail Prokhorov's first appearances as an owner of an NBA team, he was a part of the always strange lottery.

He came in with the Nets having a decent chance at getting a good pick. Hell, decent chance? They were the worst team in the league the previous season.

Well, the Wizards ended up winning the lottery, but we got a nice chance to see the giant Prokhorov standing next to Irene Pollin, a woman who looked to be about four feet tall and horrified while standing next to the giant Russian billionaire.

18. Pat Williams' Reaction in 1986

Pat Williams is a lottery veteran, but not in a bad way as you'll come to find out in the next few slides.

He was a part of the Philadelphia 76ers before he went on to help found the Orlando Magic a few years later, and was representing them at the draft lottery back in 1986.

Skip ahead to about the 1:38 mark to see Williams' reaction, which shows Williams in his more naive days looking as awkward as a fellow who has made few television appearances could.

17. Pat Williams' Reaction in 1992 and 1993

Now that you've been introduced to good old Pat Williams, let's get to know him a bit more. Skip ahead to 3:25 and you'll see Williams as a member of the Magic.

Williams is there in 1992, hoping for anything to turn around the team that he's manning, and much to his relief he realizes that his team has won the lottery (again), meaning Shaquille O'Neal would be coming to Orlando.

Fast forward a year, and only about two seconds in this clip and you'll see Williams yet again at a Magic podium, not entirely expecting a victory as the Magic had just a 1 in 66 chance of victory this time.

Still, Orlando won again, to which Pat reacted like he never had a doubt in his mind.

16. Pat Williams' Reaction in 2004

Okay, this is the last moment with Pat Williams, I swear.

Still with the Magic in 2004, Williams came to the lottery as his team had the best chance at walking home with the number one pick overall, which would be a struggle between Emeka Okafor and Dwight Howard.

Skip ahead to :30 seconds in this clip to see WIlliams final lottery victory, this time Pat Williams reacting like a contestant on "The Price is Right" who just won their showcase showdown. It all finishes with a barely audible, yet screeched "Yes!" paired with a fist pump from WIlliams.

This is why the lottery is great television people, white guys doing white guy things.

15. Cavs Win 2011 with the Clippers' Pick

In a case of something that nobody expected but that totally makes sense in retrospect, the Cleveland Cavaliers won the 2011 Draft Lottery with the Clippers' pick that they traded for a few months earlier.

Los Angeles' pick had just a 2.8 percent chance of being a winner, and wouldn't you know it, it worked out that the team with the worst luck in NBA history had just a little more bad luck.

You see, the Clippers had this high-flying power forward and no point guard at that point, and the guy who looked to be the top pick in the 2011 draft just so happened to be a pretty darn good point guard.

Either way, I'd say that both teams are happy today, although the Clippers would take that trade back any day of the week at this point.

14. Dave DeBusschere Sweats

This is the first look we'll take at the 1985 Lottery, and before we get to deep into that all I want to take a look at is the gleam on Dave DeBusschere's forehead.

We only have an abbreviated clip of the lottery, as I would assume David Stern has had every other clip destroyed at this point, but you can see the progression of sweat as it all goes along.

In the end, once the Knicks' name is finally read and DeBusschere can stop worrying, it looks like he's just gone through labor as he slouches back in his chair, wipes his forehead and looks slyly away from the camera.

13. Chris Webber Laughs at Sacramento's Misfortune

In his later years with the Sacramento Kings, nothing seemed to go right for Chris Webber and his boys. That's why it's not really a surprise with what happened when they asked him to represent them at the 2009 Lottery.

In what was basically "The Blake Griffin Sweepstakes" the Kings had the best shot at the top overall pick and were nearly a lock at nabbing one of the top three picks.

However, when Memphis' name was passed over, and then the Thunder, and finally the Clippers it was obvious that the Kings had fallen to fourth, at which point the camera cuts to a laughing Chris Webber, who was sitting with a look of disbelief and complete understanding at what had just happened.

12. Everything About the 2008 Lottery

ESPN went with this particular way of broadcasting the draft lottery back in 2008, and thankfully they only did it this way once.

From top to bottom as Adam Silver read off the names of each successive lottery team, a disembodied voice would come over in between moments of silence and read off some interesting fact about the team who had just been picked.

It was strange in every way possible, and kind of gives off a mid-2000s game show vibe when the use of disembodied voices was more prevalent than ever.

Of course, this lottery ended with the Bulls nabbing the number one pick overall, but more on that later.

11. Reggie Theus Blasts Elgin Baylor

Before he was a mediocre head coach, but after he was a decent basketball player, Reggie Theus was a mediocre analyst for ESPN. Oh hell, let's face it, he was a terrible analyst who ended up being the co-host of the pre-game show for "Slam-Ball."

Anyway, Theus ended up with one memorable moment as analyst, and while it didn't happen at the lottery, it's probably one of the best thoughts related to the lottery.

In a blast of the Clippers and General Manager Elgin Baylor, Theus called Baylor a, "veteran of the lottery," which is probably the nicest way of telling someone that they suck at their job.

10. This Guy from the Mavs Fights Disappointment

This clip of the 1995 Lottery is right around when teams started sending proxies to the lottery so they wouldn't be so damned awkward the entire time.

If you want yet another reason why the white-collar guys who have never been on television shouldn't go to these things, just fast-forward to the 2:23 mark and check out the awkwardness painted all over the Mavericks' representative.

I have no idea who this guy is, but he's fighting back his disappointment that his team didn't pull off anything miraculous while still trying to smile. It's a split second, but it's all hilarious.

9. Brandon Roy Forever Links Himself with Greg Oden

This is one of those cases where it's a pretty cool thing that happened at the time, but looking back it's strange, and mostly sad.

The Portland Trail Blazers sent Brandon Roy as their team's representative to the 2007 Lottery, and when he ended up as one of the top three guys left even though his team had just over a five percent chance of walking away with that top pick, things got exciting.

Finally, Portland's name was read off with the top pick, and just over a month later they would take Greg Oden with that top pick.

Little did either of them know that they would both be off the team in five years, both dealing with debilitating injuries.

Excuse me while I go weep for the Pacific Northwest.

8. Lewis Katz Is the Whitest Man You Know

If we've learned anything up to this point, it's that NBA front office workers are weird guys on television, and they tend to celebrate like rich white guys.

Fast-forward to the 2:40 mark if you want to see the whitest man in draft lottery history, Lewis Katz.

As the representative for the Nets at the 2000 lottery, Katz was there when they won the lottery (and would get to pick Kenyon Martin in one of the weakest drafts ever) and unleashed a fury of fist pumps and squeaky shouts of "Yes!" before gently pounding on his podium with one of the goofiest smiles you'll ever see.

7. Jerry Kruase Is a Creepy Man

We already know that Jerry Krause is one of the biggest reasons that Michael Jordan's Bulls disbanded after the 1998 season, but we never really knew how creepy he was unless you lived in Chicago and could feel his presence around town, kind of like The Penguin in Batman Returns.

However, when he represented the Bulls at the 1999 Draft Lottery, we all got to see just how strange he was first-hand.

At the 3:54 mark, Krause's Bulls win the lottery, at which point he starts to wriggle in his seat, stiffen his lips and pump his fists. When he stands up his eyebrows try to escape his face as he awkwardly scoots up to the podium to accept his victory and take over Gotham City.

6. Pat Croce Goes on the Price Is Right

Historically, Pat Croce is probably one of the most entertaining men to have ever been a part of a professional basketball team. At the very least he's up there with Mark Cuban, he just does it on a much lower key.

So, when he won the lottery in 1996 (at the 3:05 mark) exciting things were expected.

Croce leapt out of his seat and started high-fiving everyone around him as if they were happy for him. Of course they weren't! These guys just lost the lottery and Croce is acting like they're his posse that he brought with him to "The Price is Right."

5. The Bulls Win the 2008 Lottery

In one of the more strange moments in draft lottery history, but one that's not really questioned much these days, the Chicago Bulls won the 2008 Lottery and therefore the Derrick Rose Sweepstakes.

With the lottery win, Chicago would go on to draft Rose, a Chicago native who would turn the franchise from a middle-of-the-road team into one of the best teams in the NBA in a matter of three years.

I suppose at that point everyone just accepted the fact that strange things happen at the lottery and stopped questioning it.

4. Elgin Baylor Picks Danny Manning at the Lottery

This excellent piece of basketball history happens at the very beginning of this clip, and it gets more painful every time I watch it.

The Clippers sent GM Elgin Baylor to the 1988 Lottery, which they won, but the series of events that came with it are some of the most awkward possible.

David Stern announces that the Pacers would get the second pick, meaning the Clippers won the lottery, only Elgin didn't realize it right away. He looks out into the audience trying to figure out what was going on with the blankest stare on his face. He jerks his head two or three times and only does realize that he's won when a man off-screen to his right reaches out to shake his hand.

It all ends with a meaningless action at the time, but the summary of the next 20 years for the Clippers in one 10 second period as Baylor pulls out a Clippers jersey with "Manning" plastered on the back and smiles goofily to the camera with no idea just how bad Danny Manning is going to be.

Poor Elgin Baylor.

3. Orlando Wins Back-to-Back

A scenario that's always been strange to me is the fact that the Magic won the 1992 and 1993 Draft Lottery.

The victory in 1992 wasn't strange at all as they had the second-worst record in the NBA that season and therefore the second-best chance at victory.

However, after a year of Shaq on the team and a 41-41 record, the Magic had just a one in 66 chance at winning the lottery, yet they pulled it off.

Doesn't it seem strange that the newest team in the NBA who wasn't in Minnesota (who needs them to do anything good anyway, right Stern?) won back-to-back draft lotteries, landing them Shaq and Chris Webber (who was flipped for Penny Hardaway)?

2. David Kahn and the Draft Lottery's Story Lines

This is easily one of the most awkward moments in the history of the lottery, and of course it would have to come from David Kahn, a guy who was in danger of becoming the 21st Century Elgin Baylor.

Kahn's T-Wolves was one of the final three teams in the lottery in both 2010 and 2011, but he ended up without the top pick in both seasons (did he really need to draft yet another point guard?).

What he took offense to is that Abe Pollin's widow Irene ended up accepting the envelope in 2010 and Dan Gilbert's son Nick, who suffers from neurofibromatosis, got it in 2011. At about the 2:22 mark in this clip he alludes to foul play by the NBA, saying the league has a "habit" of coming out with interesting story lines. The strangest part about it all was that he was never really prompted to comment on the strange happenings, he just goes right for it.

1. The 1985 Draft Lottery

After the 1985 NBA Draft Lottery, everybody involved seemed to come out covered in an ooze of shame and relief, as it was one of David Stern's first supposed shady dealings in his many years to come as NBA Commissioner.

After the hopper is loaded with one envelope being slammed into the side of it, Stern searches for the top pick, which ends up being the Knicks', and proceeds to read off each team in awkward fashion as he gets adjusted to being on television.

The entire time, Dave DeBusschere is sitting in his seat sweating, and sweating, and sweating some more until he finally realizes that he's won the pick. DeBusschere then celebrates for a split second before slumping back in his chair like he'd just run a marathon.

It all ends with an interview of Carl Scheer, who looks happier than anyone working for the Clippers ever should have back in 1985, and then Stern and DeBusschere looking far to proud of themselves.

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