Where: NBA Entertainment Studios, Secaucus, New Jersey
When: 7:30 CST
Where to see it: ESPN
Tonight that whole lottery thing happens. We finally can quit speculating about if we pick here or if we land there. It will be nice to stop wondering. It all just comes down to those 119 lottery balls and where they land. It’s really all out of our hands now.
Or is it?
You’re probably asking yourself, “But Royce, what can I do to help?” Well here, let me give you some essential things to do today in preparation for tonight’s lottery.
- Buy a custom Thunder No. 23 jersey with GRIFFIN on the back right now. Make sure it’s non-refundable. And one of the $250 kinds. Go big or go home.
- Urge Sam Presti to make a promise to sign Taylor Griffin. Blake only plays with Taylor. Everybody knows that.
- Ask Gary England to make it thunder today.
- Play ESPN’s lottery generator until Oklahoma City gets the top pick 23 times.
- Like Silas in the Da Vinci code, put yourself through Blake’s transgressions: take a shot to the nards, get tripped while running, take a phantom elbow and get a concussion, hit your face on the backboard (ladder/trampoline may be required), get judo-flipped onto your back and make your nose bleed every 15 minutes.
- Promise your husband or wife that you’re naming your first born (or next child) Blake – boy… or girl.
- If you’re already done having children, legally change the name of your first born to Blake. Or just have another one. Whatever’s easiest.
- Make outlandish, over-the-top statements about what you’ll do if OKC lands the top pick. If we get the No. 1 pick, I’ll sleep on broken lightbulbs for a year. Or, if we get the No. 1 pick, I’ll let someone shoot me in the chest with one of those police bean bag guns. Or, if we get the No. 1 pick, I’ll swim across Lake Hefner… naked. Or, if we get the No. 1 pick, I’ll personally pay Blake’s salary. You get the idea.
- Make out with a picture of Blake. Like MAKE OUT with it.
- Don’t let any “Hey, maybe I’d be OK with getting the No. 2 pick anyway” thoughts creep into your head. I know. I’ve been fighting them too. There’s just something about that Rubio guy that is so dang likable. (But I will take number two David. It’s better than six.)
- Watch the following video 119 times.
- Send a letter to your congressman. I have no idea what that does, but everyone always says to do it when you want something.
- Come up with three totally awesome nicknames for Blake that only work with Oklahoma City or Thunder.
- Remind David Stern about how Blake Griffin is, you know, from here and all. And how that will be good for the league. And how much money that could make the league. And also about that Tyson Chandler deal that we gave back to help NOLA save face. Yeah, remind him about all that.
- Promise to hurt yourself badly if Oklahoma City doesn’t get the No. 1 pick.
- Promise not to cry, NO MATTER WHAT.
- Create a player named “B. Griffin” on NBA 2K9 and put him on the Thunder. See what I did there?
- Ask Randy Roper to sprinkle some holy water on our 119 lottery balls.
Most importantly, mentally prepare yourself for the fourth pick. Convince yourself that it’s probably better to get the fourth slot than the first anyway. Because that’s what’s going to happen. So just get ready for it. Just spend the rest of the afternoon getting ready for disappointment. It should make the let down a little more gentle. I know that’s what I’m doing. I just picked up a THABEET No. 34 Thunder jersey today. Non-refundable too.
@Michael Kelley
I think we're talking about different lotteries here.
I have a question. Is the state lotteries actually run on specific lottery bolts like the Texas 54,37, and 35 with their respective odds counts?And are the 3 digit and 4 digit state lotteries connected into one much like the main 2 US lotteries 56 and 59? Please reply,Thank You.
boo! i feel soo let down after that commercial break lol
OKC, Memphis, Clippers. Please, please give the Clippers the third pick. They don't deserve a chance to ruin another great career. Let them take Thabeet and let him be a bust where it won't matter.
oh this is killing me with the commercial break
i just saw coach brooks on the tv for a split second... "SCOTTY!!" and a fist pump ensued... yea i'm not excited at all...
quickly . . .
Where did everyone go? Let's get this party started.
It's going on right now... behind closed doors...
I already told my friends that I'd wear my Thunder jersey and headband to the bars tonight if we got the No. 1
"Blake Griffin: Not Dreaming of Oklahoma" http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-40-103/Blake-Griffin--Not-Dreaming-of-Oklahoma.html
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/05/15/givony.draftcolumn.lottery/index.html
From what I've read online, it seems to me like the lotto has already taken place today, but only Earnst and Young (and a handful of execs who were invited to the event) know the results.
So unless prayer is retroactive, I think it's too late.
NBA.com has an article titled "As ping pong balls bounce, fates of 14 teams hang in balance". (ink to follow in the next post) that describes the process.
AD :
When do we start praying?… around 6:00?… Does that sound about right?
Without ceasing.
AD :
When do we start praying?… round 6:00?… Does that sound about right?
start right now
When do we start praying?... around 6:00?... Does that sound about right?
OK... home from work... and ready.
I just heard Jim Traber say if we get the 3rd pick we'd be stupid not to go with Hill...
uhhh....
I've been getting the #2 vibe as well...
@Joe
I'll take Rubio/the #2 pick in a heart beat!
I don't know where this came from, I guess just an idea or feeling that popped into my head, but I get a bad feeling about the Golden State Warriors. I think they will get the #1 spot.
For the same reason I think we get #2, and have to endure a month and a half of speculation about Rubio and moving Westbrook to the 2...
There is no basis in reality in the above statement, just a gut feeling.
I was a little concerned how OKC would do in its first offseason. I wasn't too much into the NBA until this year, but I'm definitely just as excited now (if not more) than I was during the season. While I'm with everyone else in hoping for Griffin, I think Presti will do right by the team no matter our pick. Bring on '09-'10!
BTW, great job on the site guys. This is by far my favorite basketball blog.
@Alex
They're a bunch of idiots when it comes to the NBA.
Al can tell you ever recruit OU has had for the last 50 years, but he can't tell you who won the NBA Championship 2 years ago.
I bet they all say the Thunder will draft Thabeet (If we don't get 1 oe 2). I would put money on that.
seems like Chad Ford gave us his blessing in his chat over at ESPN.com...
Chad Ford: (4:53 PM ET ) OK ... I'm going to play our Mock Draft Lottery Machine once. Whatever comes up is my prediction for the night. Hold on ...
SportsNation Chad Ford: (4:54 PM ET ) OK ....
NO. 3 Sacramento Kings
NO. 2 Washington Wizards
NO. 1 OKC Thunder!!!!!
Blake Griffin stays home! Seattle fans slit their wrists ....
Another positive about possibly being disappointed with a non-#1 pick is that the Sports Animal will be forced to discuss draft prospects not named Griffin...I don't think I've heard a mention of Harden yet on the radio...It's like Griffin, Rubio, and Thabeet are the only guys in the draft.
@Bernard
Two weeks? OMG Im with you. I regret it too
If we get the first pick I will quit facebook for 2 weeks.
I already regret saying it.
BTW DONT HATE ON THABEET, IM FROM CONNECTICUT!!! HES AN AWESOME SHOTBLOCKING CENTER!!
I'm looking forward more to the lottery than I am the Draft LOL The Kings don't deserve the Number # 1 Pick, Pietri recked that team!
I am as nervous as a 12 year-old calling up his middle school crush to ask her to go to the movies.
I predict discussion will blow up on the blog tomorrow...I'm predicting a 3 pager full of discussion...
dork :
Just a thought that occured to me while reading your bits about 23. I recall watching something on TV (think it was Kenny Smith) about the number 23 and Lebron. When blake gets a number don’t let it be 23. The reason 23 = Jordan. When you see a random kid playing basketball in a 23 jersey does your mind go to Lebron or Jordan?
I know completely random but I feel that way, 23 is Jordan.
Totally agree. I think Blake will wear No. 15 in the pros (if it's not taken). It was his number in high school and the number he wanted at OU, but David Godbold already had it. So he went with 23 to "flip-flop" Taylor and also as an honor to Wayman Tisdale.
Luckily... Miami is ahead of the pack with this by retiring Jordan's number as well as Dan Marino's. What the heck!?!?!
Funny tidbit, I was playing the lotto on ESPN today and was struck with a rather ominous omen. Sacramento won a bunch of time (not a big deal), but I didn't see the Thunder win even once until Phoenix (yes, .5% chance Phoenix) had won twice.
@dork
agreed...the should have reitred 23 before Lebron entered the league...
I remember playing growing up and thinking the white kid on the other team with a 23 jersey was just an idiot...Sadly...I was the white kid on my team with 23 on his back...
I didn't deserve it...Retire it from the whole of game...even down to rec leagues.
@dork
I agree. 23 should be retired throughout the entire league.
Just a thought that occured to me while reading your bits about 23. I recall watching something on TV (think it was Kenny Smith) about the number 23 and Lebron. When blake gets a number don't let it be 23. The reason 23 = Jordan. When you see a random kid playing basketball in a 23 jersey does your mind go to Lebron or Jordan?
I know completely random but I feel that way, 23 is Jordan.
I'm excited. I realize the suspense isn't their reason for doing it this way, but kudos to the NBA for making this so suspenseful.
I'm sure Presti is ready to get this show on the road as well. It'll be nice to have something set in stone as far as a starting point for our draft goes.
@Vega
He like many others know that it is a very slim chance that he actually gets to play here. Blake is smart and knows how great it would be to play with KD, Westbooke and Uncle Jeff, but he knows he is probably going to go somewhere else and be the face of that franchice, so he has to be PC right now.
Quote from Griffin on going to the Thunder:
"I think it would be a good situation, but at the same time, I've been in Oklahoma my entire life. I have a spot in my heart for Oklahoma obviously growing up there and living there my entire life, but I wouldn't mind getting out and seeing different stuff. "
Read into this what you may.
I'm actually okay with getting the fourth pick, so long as Harden is still there when we pick.
Who's Hasheem Thabeet?
(yes, this is what repression would look like)
Oh me to. That's why I'm trying to set myself up for the disappointment.
This is what you would hear from me next month if we drafted Thabeet . . .
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO