Originally Published: May 21, 2009, 04:19 AM

Winning the Lottery is easy; picking the right player is not

Posted By Diego | NBA News | May 21, 2009, 04:19 AM |

So it is, too, with the NBA Draft Lottery, which will celebrate its 25th birthday Tuesday night in a prime time event that is part sports, part game, part schtick and can be a big ingredient in determining future champions.

After all, would the San Antonio Spurs have four title banners hanging from their rafters if they hadn't won the 1997 Lottery and the rights to draft Tim Duncan? Would the Cleveland Cavaliers currently look like a boulder rolling down a mountain with eight straight double-figure playoff wins if the 2003 Lottery didn't deliver LeBron James? Would Orlando have knocked off the defending champion Boston Celtics to reach the Eastern Conference finals if the 2004 Lottery hadn't made Dwight Howard a resident of the Magic kingdom?

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Embed So it is, too, with the NBA Draft Lottery, which will celebrate its 25th birthday Tuesday night in a prime time event that is part sports, part game, part schtick and can be a big ingredient in determining future champions.<br /> <br /> After all, would the San Antonio Spurs have four title banners hanging from their rafters if they hadn't won the 1997 Lottery and the rights to draft Tim Duncan? Would the Cleveland Cavaliers currently look like a boulder rolling down a mountain with eight straight double-figure playoff wins if the 2003 Lottery didn't deliver LeBron James? Would Orlando have knocked off the defending champion Boston Celtics to reach the Eastern Conference finals if the 2004 Lottery hadn't made Dwight Howard a resident of the Magic kingdom?<br /><a href='http://www.slicendice.org'>Slice N Dice</a> | <a href='http://www.slicendice.org/NBA/Winning-the-Lottery-is-easy-picking-the-right-player-is-not'>Winning the Lottery is easy; picking the right player is not</a>