The NBA draft lottery is one of the most consequential days of the NBA calendar. Every year, the bottom quarter of the league looks forward to the day when the league draws ping-pong balls, from behind closed doors, to determine the draft order. After a long season of losing, and perhaps some tanking, the teams’ fate comes down to … luck, the bounce of a ball.
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Our Rohan Nadkarni was inside the secret drawing room as the ping-pong balls were drawn and takes you behind the scenes of what happened.
Also, Erling Haaland of Norway is our World Cup spotlight today. For more NBA and soccer coverage, stay tuned to The Sports Desk newsletter and the NBC News website.
NBA Draft Lottery
Inside the drawing room, each of the 14 lottery teams has a representative. There are various officials from the NBA, and the media is seated to the side of the plastic drum from which the lottery combinations will be drawn.
Inside a sealed briefcase are 14 ping-pong balls, numbered 1 to 14. Those ping-pong balls are then placed in a plastic drum designed by Smartplay International, a company that specializes in devising lottery machines.
There is an official timekeeper who purposefully faces away from the drum to avoid any perception of bias. After the drum is started up — and the balls start flying around within it — the timekeeper will let 20 seconds pass before indicating it’s time to draw. After the first ping-pong ball is selected, another will be selected every 10 seconds.
The Washington Wizards won the first pick with the combination of numbers 4, 2, 1 and 13. Team President Michael Winger, who carried a photo of his family for good luck, was in the room for the drawing and remained stoic as his team was called out for the No. 1 selection.
This was just an excerpt. For the rest of our story inside the NBA draft lottery drawing room, read here.
NBA Playoffs
In Round 2 of the NBA playoffs, two series have been snoozers — the New York Knicks swept the Philadelphia 76ers in four games, and the Oklahoma City Thunder are up 3-0 on the Los Angeles Lakers. But the other two might go the distance, particularly the matchup out West between the No. 2 San Antonio Spurs and No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves.
Over the weekend, the Spurs and Timberwolves split their two matchups to tie the series at 2-2. On Friday, Victor Wembanyama led San Antonio to victory with a thrilling performance, scoring 39 points on 72% shooting while grabbing 15 rebounds and blocking five shots.
Throughout the series, the Timberwolves have done all they can to slow Wembanyama down, bumping, grabbing and generally being as physical as possible, trying to defend the 7-foot-4 Frenchman, whose only weakness, perhaps, is his slight frame.
Last night, during Game 4, Wembanyama’s frustration boiled over. In the second quarter, as two Minnesota defenders jostled him, he swung his elbow and struck the Timberwolves’ Naz Reid in the neck area. Wembanyama was ejected after logging only 12 minutes.
Afterward, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson blamed the referees for not protecting Wembanyama by calling fouls when the play got physical.
“I’m glad he took matters into his own hands,” Johnson told reporters. “Not in terms of hitting Naz Reid — by all means, being very clear about that. I’m glad Naz Reid is OK, and I didn’t want him to elbow him, but he’s going to have to protect himself if [the referees are] not.”
With Wembanyama out, Minnesota eked out a 114-109 win behind a star performance from Anthony Edwards, who scored 36 points in 40 minutes.
World Cup Countdown
Leading up to the 2026 World Cup, we’re counting down 26 players to watch. Today’s entry is Norway’s Erling Haaland.
In his day job playing for Manchester City of the Premier League, Haaland almost never plays the role of underdog.
Backed by the Gulf state of Abu Dhabi, City has vast resources to sign the world’s best players and has won the Premier League, the world’s top domestic league, four of the last five years. Haaland, a 6-foot-5 striker who pulls his blond hair into a signature tight ponytail, has been central to that success, scoring more than 100 goals in four seasons.
Yet during Norway’s first World Cup appearance since 1998, Haaland will try to continue his scoring binges while instead trying to take down the powerhouses. As by far the most accomplished Norwegian player, Haaland acknowledged last fall that helping Norway qualify was “a lot on my shoulders.”
“I’ve been feeling the pressure ever since I came to the national team in 2019,” Haaland said in November. “Honestly, I felt more pressure then than now because I wasn’t that good to handle the pressure. Now I’m better. I think I’m an expert.”
That’s good for Norway, because advancing out of the group stage against Iraq, world No. 14-ranked Senegal and No. 1-ranked France will require Haaland to again shoulder the burden of being the most potent threat to score while also creating openings for teammates.
His performances during World Cup qualifying shouldn’t be taken as a predictor of future performance, but Haaland was undeniably prolific while scoring 16 goals in eight games.
For Haaland, there is also a personal connection to making this tournament. His father, Alf-Inge Haaland, played for Norway during the 1994 World Cup, which was also hosted in the U.S.
“To be able to go to the U.S. and play the World Cup there is truly something special, and it’s going to be incredible,” Haaland told CBS Sports in December. “I’ll have goosebumps. Maybe I will cry when they sing the national anthem.”
Friday’s entry was Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Read about him here.
What We’re Watching
The Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers square off again tonight. Aside from the Spurs and Timberwolves, this is our only hope for drama in Round 2 of the NBA playoffs. Detroit took the first two games, and Cleveland responded with a big win in Game 3, led by Donovan Mitchell, who scored 35 points. Can Mitchell keep it up in Game 4?
Then in the nightcap, is this the final game of LeBron James’ career? Maybe not. But James is 41 years old and his Lakers find themselves down 3-0 against the Thunder.
All times are Eastern:
- 8 p.m.: No. 1 Detroit Pistons vs. No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers, on NBC/Peacock
- 10:30 p.m.: No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 4 Los Angeles Lakers, on Amazon Prime
That’s it for now! We’ll be back tomorrow.