Dwyane Wade's Message on NBA Being 'Rigged' After Draft Lottery

With a 1.8% chance of claiming the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Dallas Mavericks ended up winning the lottery and the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes.

Although it truly was the luck of the draw, the conspiracy theories have been running rampant throughout the NBA, as many fans find it fishy that the team that just traded away Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers is rewarded with a generational prospect.

While fans are known to be a little on edge regarding certain occurrences, three-time NBA Champion and minority owner of the Utah Jazz, Dwyane Wade, recently added fuel to the fire regarding the lottery possibly being rigged in an interview with USA TODAY.

"It's a business," Wade said when asked if he thinks it was rigged. "I'm not saying anyone is doing anything because I'm not a witness in it. But this is a business that we [are] a part of. And I think people forget that in the competition of sports and what we love because we grow up playing sports and it's not a business when we grow up. But when you're in the NBA, it's a business. And the business has to do its best job to make sure that...You know. It's taken care of."

"So I don't know," Wade added. "I'm just saying I think it was 2008 when I thought we (Miami Heat) was gonna get the No. 1 pick. We ended up getting the No. 2 pick...But the Chicago Bulls just like Dallas they had a small percentage and ended up jumping into the top four. And in my mind I said 'Derrick Rose is the No. 1 pick in the draft. The Bulls are going to get first.' And the Bulls did so maybe that's a coincidence."