Richard Jefferson claims NBA likes ‘rigged’ conspiracy theories

Since the Dallas Mavericks landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft despite having just a 1.8% chance to do so entering the lottery, NBA fans have claimed that the league is rigged.

In this particular case, the conspiracy theory surrounding the Mavericks reaches back to February, when Dallas shockingly traded superstar centerpiece Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and one first-round draft pick. The haul for Doncic was widely viewed as underwhelming for one of the league’s best players in his prime and sparked other conspiracy theories, including that the Mavericks traded Doncic to torpedo goodwill among fans in Dallas in an attempt to orchestrate the franchise’s move to Las Vegas.

However, when the Mavericks ascended to the top of the draft in spite of having the fourth-worst odds of the 14 teams, the conspiracy theories changed wildly and grew in number. Now, some have accused the NBA of not only forcing the Mavericks to trade Doncic in February, but then also gifted the Mavs the No. 1 pick — which is almost certainly going to be Cooper Flagg — as an IOU of sorts.

Nearly every major media member in the NBA space has unequivocally shot down any chance of a conspiracy, but Richard Jefferson, a former player and now a part of ESPN’s top commentating trio, says the league enjoys this sort of discussion.

“The two percent does happen. It happens a lot,” Jefferson said of the lottery surprise on the ‘Road Trippin’ podcast [h/t Larry Brown Sports. “Everyone wants to say it’s rigged, but the NBA likes that illusion of this. It’s part of the allure. The NBA is the most dramatic sport. It’s the second-biggest sport in the world, but it’s the most dramatic.

“The drama that goes into basketball players on and off the court, all the drama, the pettiness, the dads on the court talking s–t to Hall of Famers, the NBA is always full of some s–t. That’s just part of the drama. The NBA likes the fact that people are like, ‘Oh, this is rigged.'”