NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal shares shocking rigged lottery story to get him to Magic

Shaquille O'Neal is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in NBA history. While he is often associated with the Los Angeles Lakers due to his dominant tenure playing for the franchise, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer spent the first four years of his career with the Orlando Magic.

Amid recent conversations suggesting that the draft lottery is rigged, the first overall pick of the 1992 NBA Draft shared shocking details of his conversation with then-commissioner David Stern. 

"I don't know if you've heard this story, but in 1992, I think the draft -- was it in June or something? I meet Mr. Stern in March," NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal claimed. "And he says to me, 'hey, I know who you are. I can't wait for you to come to the NBA'. Then he pulls me to the side, 'you want to play where it's cold or it's hot?' He asked me that. Yeah, he did. He asked me that and I was like, 'hot'. And he smiled and I smiled and then a couple of days later, they had the draft thing -- the top-three things. Minnesota was No. 3, I was like... And then Charlotte was No. 2 and then Orlando, Florida was No. 1. I was like -- I didn't think anything about it, but you hear a lot of these conspiracy theories. There's a lot of situations that could make these things sound good and sound true."

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O'Neal acknowledged that the Dallas Mavericks getting the top overall pick -- which they will presumably use to select Cooper Flagg -- after trading Luka Doncic is very interesting. In the immediate aftermath of the draft lottery, fans were quick to point out that it is not the first time a team has received the rights to the first pick in the draft after losing a superstar.

The Cleveland Cavaliers earned the first overall pick in 2011 after losing LeBron James the previous summer, selecting Kyrie Irving. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans landed Anthony Davis with the first overall pick in 2012 after trading Chris Paul a few months prior. They also landed the first overall pick in 2019 after it was clear that Davis would be moved that summer.

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