Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Adam Silver heckled with 'rigged' line during NBA Draft

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated Jun 25, 2025 11:10 PM ET

It took the hecklers approximately 0.02 seconds to get on Adam Silver’s case during the NBA Draft.

The National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver received a notable heckle right at the very beginning of the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday night. Silver walked out at Barclays Center in Brooklyn to kick off the first round of the draft and immediately heard it from one fan who was in attendance.

ESPN’s broadcast picked up the fan loudly yelling at Silver, “Dallas was rigged!” right as Silver emerged from the backstage area. Here is the video.

Somebody yelled “DALLAS WAS RIGGED” at Adam Silver pic.twitter.com/3ZNs0khWGT
— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) June 26, 2025

For reference, the Dallas Mavericks had the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft. That came as a result of Dallas winning the draft lottery last month despite only having a 1.8 percent chance of doing so (with just the 12th-best odds among NBA teams).

The Mavericks made the shocking decision in February to trade away franchise star Luka Doncic to the L.A. Lakers (a marquee franchise in a top market). With Dallas then immediately being rewarded with a new generational star in Cooper Flagg to build around, many fans believed that there was something fishy going on with the draft lottery.

Meanwhile, heckling the NBA commissioner during draft day is a tradition like no other. Silver’s predecessor, the late David Stern, was famously booed at the draft almost every year (and even sometimes invited the jeers).

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: