LeBron James was one of the most hyped up prospects in American sports history, and his NBA career got off to quite the fairytale start. James is from Akron, Ohio, and it just so happened that the Cleveland Cavaliers won the 2003 Draft Lottery to be in position to select him.
The Cavaliers would draft James with the first pick in 2003, and it was an incredible story. It seemed like it was written in the stars that this generational talent would lead his hometown team to glory, but James suggested that the NBA might have orchestrated the whole thing.
During an appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show,” James suggested that the league might have rigged the lottery.
“Listen, man, during the ball drop, during the lottery drop, Cleveland got the No. 1 pick,” James said on the Pat McAfee Show, via NBACentral. “I just don’t think that was… What a coincidence, huh?”
James then brought up two other famous instances when there were suggestions that the lottery might have been rigged.
“Let’s keep LeBron home,” James stated. “You know what? Patrick Ewing to the Knicks, Derrick Rose to the Bulls. I understand the assignment, guys.”
LeBron hints that the league may have rigged the 2003 lottery for the Cavs 😅
“Let’s keep LeBron home…Patrick Ewing to the Knicks, LeBron to the Cavs, Rose to the Bulls. I get it man.”
(🎥 @PatMcAfeeShow / h/t @Boness305 )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 26, 2025
The NBA introduced the lottery system for the first time in 1985, and it just so happened that the New York Knicks won it to draft Patrick Ewing. Ewing was viewed as a generational talent, and his ending up on a big market led to accusations that the lottery was rigged.
As for Rose, he ended up being drafted by his hometown team like James, as the Chicago Bulls won the lottery in 2008. This was all rather convenient, of course.
Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
In 2003, the Cavaliers and the Denver Nuggets each had a 22.5% chance to get that first pick. James could have very easily become a Nugget, but he didn’t. Did the Cavaliers just get a little lucky, or was the lottery rigged? Well, we’ll never know for sure.
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