NBA lottery
Definition
The NBA Draft Lottery is an annual weighted lottery system used by the National Basketball Association (NBA) to determine the order of the first 14 picks in the NBA Draft for non-playoff teams, designed to promote parity by giving worse-performing teams better odds at the top pick.
A televised event featuring ping-pong balls drawn from a machine, where the team with the league's worst record has the highest (14%) chance of landing the No. 1 selection, though luck can upend expectations.
Examples
The Pistons front office is crossing their fingers harder than a superstitious gambler at the NBA lottery, dreaming of a franchise savior amid another lost season.
Tanking for the NBA lottery is the NBA's polite way of saying your team is auditioning for the role of tragic hero in a sports soap opera.
When the ping-pong balls bounced their way to the No. 1 pick, Wizards fans briefly forgot their decade of despair at the NBA lottery.
The NBA lottery turned the Clippers' misery into mock hope, proving that even in basketball, the house always rigs the odds just enough to keep you hooked.