May 12, 1985: The Fixed NBA Draft Lottery for Patrick Ewing

Left to right: David Stern, Patrick Ewing, Dave DeBusschere

May 12, 1985: The NBA holds its 1st-ever Draft Lottery, at the Felt Forum, a sub-arena of Madison Square Garden in New York. It was designed to stop teams having a bad season from "going into the tank" or "tanking": Losing games on purpose so that they could finish with the league's worst record, thus guaranteeing them the 1st pick in the NBA Draft.

David Stern, in his 1st full season as Commissioner, drew envelopes containing the logos of the 7 teams, out of the 23 then in the NBA, that didn't make the Playoffs. The theory was that each non-Playoff team had an equal chance to obtain the first pick. The rest of the first-round picks were determined in reverse order of their won–loss record.

It was no secret that the player most likely to be taken with the 1st overall pick would be Patrick Ewing, a center who had led Georgetown University to the previous year's National Championship, and the NCAA Tournament Final in 3 of his 4 years. Some observers were calling the lottery the Ewing Bowl, as if it were a football contest.

The general managers of the 7 teams patiently waited for Stern to draw the envelopes. The 1st one drawn, and thus the team that got the 7th pick, was the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors and the Indiana Pacers had tied for the worst record in the NBA, 22-60. Under the old system, those two teams would face a coin flip: The winner would get the 1st pick, the loser the 2nd pick. The Warriors were thus the 1st team who looked like a loser in the lottery.

The 6th pick went to the Sacramento Kings, the 5th to the Atlanta Hawks, the 4th to the Seattle SuperSonics, and the 3rd to the Los Angeles Clippers. It came down to the Pacers, represented by GM Robert Salyers; and the New York Knicks, represented by their GM, one of their all-time greatest players, Dave DeBusschere.

When Stern opened the next envelope, and pulled out the card, it contained the Pacers' logo. That meant they would pick 2nd, and the Knicks 1st. DeBusschere pumped his fist, and the New Yorkers inside the Felt Forum roared with delight. They knew exactly who DeBusschere, who had been a defensive and rebounding specialist as a player, would pick when the actual draft was held on June 18: The similarly-controlling Ewing.

When DeBusschere got up to shake hands with Stern, he reached into the pocket of his sportscoat, and pulled out a Knicks jersey with Number 33 on it. It wasn't in honor of his teammate on the 1970 NBA Champion Knicks, University of Michigan Hall-of-Famer Cazzie Russell. DeBusschere turned the jersey around, and revealed the name on the back: "EWING."

Ever since, people outside the New York Tri-State Area -- and some inside it, who had no problem with the idea -- have suggested that the fix was in: Stern wanted the best collegiate player of his generation to play for the New York team, because the New York team winning titles would be good for the league, TV-wise, therefore money-wise.

The question became not if Ewing would lead the Knicks to a World Championship, but how many. Of course, that same question would be asked for Eric Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers in 1992. And if you had suggested at the times of their acquisitions that, in each case, the number would turn out to be zero, you would have been laughed out of the room.

But no one foresaw that the Boston Celtics would still dominate the Eastern Conference through 1987; that the Detroit Pistons would then do so through 1990; and that the Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, would then do so through 1998. With Ewing, the Knicks would reach the NBA Finals in 1994. Without him -- he was injured earlier in the Playoffs -- they reached the Finals in 1999.

It got to the point where, like Joe Namath of the 1969 New York Jets and Mark Messier of the 1994 New York Rangers, Ewing began predicting that the Knicks would win the Championship. He did become the franchise's all-time leading scorer. But the franchise still hasn't won a title since 1973, with DeBusschere, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, Earl Monroe and Jerry Lucas, Hall-of-Famers all.

So if there was a fix, it didn't work. Even so, Jordan and the Bulls did everything for the league that Stern had hoped that Ewing and the Knicks would do.

The Pacers chose Wayman Tisdale, who turned out to be a good player, but not a great one. The Clippers chose Benoit Benjamin, also a good one. The Sonics chose Xavier McDaniel, a very good player. The Hawks chose Jon Koncak, and the Kings Joe Kleine, who both turned out to be decent players.

The 7th pick that the Warriors got stuck with? They chose Chris Mullin, who, like Ewing and Jordan, would make the Hall of Fame and play on the 1992 Olympic "Dream Team." He would later play for the Pacers, and they got more out of him than they got out of Tisdale. So while the Warriors got robbed, they got more out of their pick than anybody but the Knicks got out of theirs.

There were other interesting picks. The Dallas Mavericks got Detlef Schrempf, a German star who did well for them, and later for the Pacers; Uwe Blab, also German, but not as good as Schrempf, and neither was as good for them as later German player Dirk Nowitzki; and Bill Wennington, who did little for them, but became a reserve for the Bulls' dynasty.

The Cleveland Cavaliers drafted Charles Oakley. He didn't do much for them, but he was later traded to the Knicks, and teamed with Ewing to produce the 2nd-best team in the East in the 1990s. They also drafted John "Hot Rod" Williams, who did well for them.

The Utah Jazz drafted Karl Malone, who would pair with John Stockton to form one of the greatest NBA duos. The Pistons drafted Joe Dumars, who became the defensive leader of the "Motor City Bad Boys," and later served as the general manager who built their next great team. The Pistons have reached the NBA Finals 5 times: 3 with Dumars as a player, winning 2; and 2 with Dumars as GM, winning 1.

The Los Angeles Lakers took A.C. Green, who helped them win 3 titles and set the NBA's consecutive games played record. The Portland Trail Blazers drafted Terry Porter, who helped them reach 2 NBA Finals. The Washington Bullets drafted 7-foot-6 shot-blocking specialist Manute Bol.

So the team that did the best in this draft was Detroit -- and they weren't in the Lottery. So much for the old slogan of the New York State Lottery: "You gotta be in it to win it."

Under the current rules, only the top four picks are decided by the lottery, and are chosen from the 14 teams (out of 30) that do not make the playoffs. The team with the worst record, or the team that holds the draft rights of the team with the worst record, has the best chance to obtain a higher draft pick. After the top four positions are selected (from the lottery slotting system), the remainder of the first-round draft order is in inverse order of the win–loss record for the remaining teams, or the teams who originally held the rights if they were traded. The lottery does not determine the draft order in the subsequent rounds of the draft.

Since the 2019 draft, the NBA changed the lottery odds (the bottom three teams will all have an equal 14 percent chance of winning the top pick), and increased the number of teams selected in the lottery from three to four.

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May 12, 1985 was a Sunday. There was 1 game played in the NBA, and it was the league's best rivalry: The Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 108-93 at the Boston Garden.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Kansas City Royals, 6-5 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Rickey Henderson went 3-for-5 with an RBI. But Pat Sheridan hit 2 home runs. George Brett went 1-for-5. The Yankees led 4-2 in the 4th inning, and blew it, with Jim Sundberg singling home the winning run in the bottom of the 9th.

* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Keith Hernandez hit a home run in support of Ron Darling. Mike Schimdt went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. David Palmer pitched 8 innings of 5-hit ball, and Jeff Reardon finished the 6-hit shutout.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Eddie Murray went 0-for-3 with a walk. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners, 9-5 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-5 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Bill Doran went 3-for-6 with 2 home runs and 2 RBIs. Reds manager Pete Rose put himself into the game as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Floyd Bannister pitched a 7-hit shutout, outpitching Jack Morris.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the California Angels, 7-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Paul Molitor went 2-for-4 with a walk. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-4. Rod Carew, in his final season, only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers, 6-0 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Bert Blyleven pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium, in Los Angeles. Bobby Castillo (6 2/3rds innings) and Tom Niedenfuer combined on a 5-hit shutout.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Giants led 4-2 after 7 innings, but blew it. Nevertheless, David Green singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

There were 4 games played in the United States Football League:

* The New Jersey Generals beat the Baltimore Stars, 10-3 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Tampa Bay Bandits beat the Jacksonville Bulls, 21-10 at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.

* The Memphis Showboats beat the Houston Gamblers, 17-15 at the Liberty Bowl (now Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium) in Memphis.

* And the Denver Gold beat the Arizona Outlaws, 42-28 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

There were 2 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Quebec Nordiques beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-3 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Chicago Black Hawks beat the Edmonton Oilers, 8-6 at the Chicago Stadium. However, both of these losing teams went on to win their series. The Oilers beat the Flyers in the Stanley Cup Finals.

April 2, 1984: The Redemption of Georgetown

Fred Brown (left) hugged by John Thompson

April 2, 1984: Georgetown beat the University of Houston, 84-75 at the Kingdome in Seattle, and win the NCAA basketball tournament. The Hoyas become the 1st team in the Chesapeake region to win the National Championship. John Thompson becomes the 1st black head coach to win it.

As soon as the clock runs out, instead of hugging his best player, Patrick Ewing, he hugs Fred Brown, whose mistake helped cost Georgetown the title game 2 years earlier.
 

For the 3rd straight year, Houston's "Phi Slama Jama" of Hakeem "the Dream" Olajuwon and Clyde "the Glide" Drexler made the Final Four, but didn't win it. Over those 3 years, the Cougars went 88-16, including 71-12 in the regular season.

It must have been especially frustrating for head coach Guy Lewis, who had coached Houston to the Final Four in 1967 and 1968, with Elvin Hayes as his star. Now, he was 0-for-5 in Final Fours. He coached the Cougars from 1956 to 1986, and died in 2015. UH did not return to the Final Four until 2021.

(UPDATE: In 2025, they got back to the NCAA Final, but lost to Florida, making them 0-for-7 in Final Fours and 0-4 in Finals. No other team has been to 4 NCAA Tournament Finals without winning any.)

Georgetown would return to the title game in 1985, but lost to Villanova in one of the greatest games and greatest upsets in basketball history. Over Ewing's 4 years, the Hoyas went 121-23, including 69-6 in their last 2 years, which included a 29-game winning streak from February 25, 1984 to January 23, 1985. It was one of the best 4-year stretches in college basketball history, including 3 title games, but only 1 title.

In 1994, Olajuwon would lead the Houston Rockets to the NBA title, beating Ewing's New York Knicks. The following year, Drexler, after a Hall of Fame career with the Portland Trail Blazers, joined Olajuwon on the Rockets, and they won another title. Ewing never won one.

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April 2, 1984 was a Monday. This was the Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season, and 3 games were played:

* The New York Mets lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 8-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Mario Soto outpitched Mike Torrez.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Since Baltimore was then the closest MLB city to Washington, D.C., President Ronald Reagan attended, and revived the Presidential tradition of throwing out the ceremonial first ball. Previously, Presidents did so from "the Presidential box" in Washington. Reagan wore an Orioles jacket over a bulletproof vest, and threw the first ball from the mound, which had never been done by a President before, but has been done by them since.

Cal Ripken Jr. hit a home run. Eddie Murray went 1-for-4 with the Orioles' other RBI.

* The California Angels beat the Boston Red Sox, 2-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Rod Carew went 2-for-4. Reggie Jackson did not play.

One game was played in the United States Football League (USFL): The Birmingham Stallions beat the New Orleans Breakers, 31-17 at Legion Field in Birmingham.

The NHL was between its regular season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There were 2 games played in the NBA. The New York Knicks beat the Chicago Bulls, 115-113 at Madison Square Garden. Quintin Dailey scored 44 in defeat for the Bulls. And the Utah Jazz beat the Houston Rockets, 111-100 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah. Adrian Dantley scored 37 for the Jazz.

February 9, 1997: The NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players

February 9, 1997: The NBA hosts its All-Star Game at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland. The East beat the West, 132-120. Glen Rice, then with the Charlotte Hornets, was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

But the game was secondary to the halftime entertainment. Although the names had already been announced a few weeks earlier, to coincide with the NBA's actual 50th Anniversary -- the 1st game was played on November 1, 1946 -- the 50 Greatest Players, as chosen by a special panel (including, as it turned out, some of the players in question) were introduced.

Of the 50, 49 were still alive at the time. The only one who had died was Pete Maravich, who suffered a heart attack in 1988, only 40 years old. He was represented at the ceremony by his sons, Jaeson and Josh.

Of the 49 living players, 47 were on hand. The two who weren't? One had a good excuse: Jerry West, the legendary guard and executive of the Los Angeles Lakers, was in a hospital, recovering from surgery. (He did recover, and was still alive to be selected to the 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players.)

The other player who didn't show up did not have a good excuse. It was Shaquille O'Neal. He'd played 4 seasons, thrilling fans with ferocious dunks, and leading the Orlando Magic to the 1995 NBA Finals. This was his 1st season with the Lakers, and there were people who said his worthiness as a selection as an all-time great was premature. (That turned out to be true.)

But it wasn't humility, a belief that he didn't yet belong, that kept him away. No, it was an injury. He decided that, if he couldn't play in the game, he wouldn't show up. So he didn't. And so, when his name was announced, the crowd in Cleveland -- a city which had absolutely no reason to dislike him, or the Lakers, or even the Magic -- booed him hard.

Hakeem Olajuwon of the Houston Rockets was selected, for both the All-Star Game and the 50 Greatest Players. So was Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks. Like Shaq, both of these men were injured, and unable to play in the game. But both of them showed up, anyway, wearing suits instead of their uniforms. And each of them was solidly cheered by a crowd in a city for which he had never played.

The members of the 50 Greatest Players who were still active, and selected for the games, wore their East or West uniforms. All the others wore suits. All of them were given special leather jackets, with the NBA 50th Anniversary logo, white sleeves, and torsos in the solid color of the team with which they were the most identified.

Only 4 of the NBA's 1st 50 Championship teams were not represented: The 1947 Philadelphia Warriors, the 1948 Baltimore Bullets, the 1951 Rochester Royals, and the 1979 Seattle SuperSonics, although their head coach, Lenny Wilkens, was named as one of the 50 Greatest Players.

Here they were, in (roughly) chronological order:

* From the Minneapolis Lakers' dynasty of the 1950s: George Mikan.

* From the Syracuse Nationals' 1955 NBA Champions: Dolph Schayes.

* From the Philadelphia Warriors' 1956 NBA Champions: Paul Arizin.

* From the St. Louis Hawks' 1958 NBA Champions: Bob Pettit.

* From the Boston Celtics' dynasty of the 1950s and '60s: Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Bill Russell, Sam Jones, John Havlicek.

* From the Philadelphia 76ers' 1967 NBA Champions: Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham.

* From the New York Knicks' 1970 NBA Champions: Willis Reed, Walt "Clyde" Frazier and Dave DeBusschere. From their 1973 Champions: Those 3, plus Jerry Lucas and Earl "the Pearl" Monroe. But not, interestingly, Bill Bradley.

* From the Milwaukee Bucks' 1971 NBA Champions: Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

* From the Los Angeles Lakers' 1972 NBA Champions: Chamberlain and Jerry West.

* From the Celtics' Champions of 1974 and '76: Havlicek and Dave Cowens.

* From the Golden State Warriors' 1975 NBA Champions: Rick Barry.

* From the Portland Trail Blazers' 1977 NBA Champions: Bill Walton.

* From the Washington Bullets' 1978 NBA Champions: Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes.

* From the Lakers' dynasty of the 1980s: Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin "Magic" Johnson and James Worthy.

* From the Celtics' dynasty of the 1980s: Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. Nate "Tiny" Archibald was selected, and played on their 1981 title team. Walton was selected, and played on their 1986 title team.

* From the 76ers' 1983 NBA Champions: Julius "Dr. J" Erving and Moses Malone.

* From the Detroit Pistons' back-to-back titlists of 1989 and '90: Isiah Thomas.

* From the Chicago Bulls' dynasty of the 1990s: Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

* From the Houston Rockets' 1994 NBA Champions: Hakeem Olajuwon. From their 1995 Champions: Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.

* From a sort-of dynasty yet to begin, that of the San Antonio Spurs of 1999-2007: David Robinson. Tim Duncan was still in college at this point.

* From a dynasty yet to begin, that of the Lakers in the early 2000s: Shaquille O'Neal. Kobe Bryant was a rookie, but was selected for the All-Star Game, and led all scorers with 31 points.

* Selected, but never won a title, though they did reach the NBA Finals at least once: Elgin Baylor, 1959 Minneapolis Lakers, Los Angeles Lakers of 1962, '63, '65, '66, '68, '69 and '70; Lenny Wilkens, 1961 St. Louis Hawks; Nate Thurmond, 1964 and '67 San Francisco Warriors; Charles Barkley, 1993 Phoenix Suns; Patrick Ewing, 1994 and '99 Knicks; and Karl Malone and John Stockton, both 1997 and '98 Utah Jazz.

* Selected, but never even made the NBA Finals: Dave Bing, 1970s Pistons; Pete Maravich, 1970s Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Jazz; and George Gervin, 1970s and '80s Spurs.

Every one of these players has been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, including those who were still active at the time. Shaq was the last one still active, in 2011.

And every one of these players was also re-selected in 2021 for the 75 Greatest Players. No one was demoted. One player already retired in 1997 who was not selected for the 50, but was promoted to the 75, was Bob McAdoo, who played on the Lakers' 1982 and '85 Champions. And Dominique Wilkens, still playing in 1997 (with the Spurs) but close to the end of the line, whatever legacy he had already secure (and, as a 1980s Atlanta Hawk, his dunking got him nicknamed "The Human Highlight Reel"), was not selected for the 50, but was selected for the 75.

One final note: In the locker room, waiting for the ceremony to begin, Michael Jordan was holding court, smoking a cigar, and telling anyone who would listen that he was the greatest basketball player of all time.

Wilt Chamberlain heard this. He'd been hearing for a few years that Jordan was the greatest, and not just from Jordan himself. He decided to put an end to this. He walked over, towering over the seated Jordan, and said, "Michael, my man, when you played, they changed the rules to make it easier for you. When I played, they changed the rules to make it harder for me. And it didn't work."

And he walked off. Dead silence in the room. Talk about "dropping the Mike."

It didn't put an end to it: There are still people who consider Jordan the greatest ever. LeBron James was then 12 years old, and now, some people think he was greater than either of them. But neither Jordan nor LeBron can ever touch Wilt.

UPDATE: Added for the 75th Anniversary, in addition to McAdoo and Wilkins, were: Dennis Rodman, who won the titled with the 1989 and '90 Pistons, and the 1996, '97 and '98 Bulls; Tim Duncan, 1999, 2003, '05, '07 and '14 Spurs; Kobe Bryant, 2000, '01, '02, '09 and '10 Lakers; Gary Payton and Dwyane Wade, 2006 Miami Heat; Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, 2008 Celtics; Ray Allen, 2008 Celtics and 2012 and '13 Heat; Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki, 2011 Dallas Mavericks; LeBron James, 2012 and '13 Heat, 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, 2020 Lakers; Kawhi Leonard, 2014 Spurs and 2019 Toronto Raptors; Steph Curry, 2015, '17, '18 and '22 Warriors; Kevin Durant, 2017 and '18 Warriors; Anthony Davis, 2020 Lakers; Giannis Antetokounmpo, 2021 Bucks; Reggie Miller, who reached the Finals on the 2000 Indiana Pacers; Allen Iverson, who reached the Finals on the 2001 76ers; Russell Westbrook and James Harden, who reached the Finals with Durant on the 2012 Oklahoma City Thunder; Chris Paul, who reached the Finals on the 2021 Suns; and never-finalists Carmelo Anthony, Steve Nash and, so far, Damian Lillard.

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February 9, 1997 was a Sunday. There were no other NBA games played that day. Baseball and football were out of season. But there were 5 NHL games played:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Florida Panthers, 4-3 at the Miami Arena.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators, 2-1 at the Marine Midland Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas. Neal Broten scored the winning goal with 44 seconds left in overtime.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 6-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Washington Capitals, 4-1 at the Edmonton Coliseum (as the Northlands Coliseum was known at the time).

And football star Saquon Barkley was born on this day.