NBA fans want desperately to believe that the league’s draft lottery system is rigged after it delivered the No. 1 pick to the Dallas Mavericks this spring, and Shaquille O’Neal is here to add some juice to that theory.
In an interview with NBA social media creator Ashley Nevel, the Hall of Famer and TNT analyst told a story of his own draft process and a conversation he had with NBA commissioner David Stern.
According to Shaq, he ran into Stern in the lead-up to the 1992 draft lottery and Stern had a question for him.
“I meet Mr. Stern in March, and he says to me, ‘Hey I know who you are, can’t wait for you to come to the NBA.’ Then he pulls me to the side (and asks), ‘Do you want to play where it’s cold or where it’s hot?'” O’Neal said.
The young LSU alum predictably preferred the warm weather at a time when the top three in the lottery were Charlotte, Minnesota and Orlando.
“I was like, ‘Hot,’ and he smiled and I smiled,” O’Neal continued. “A couple days later they had the draft [lottery] and the top three teams and Minnesota was No. 3, then Charlotte was No. 2, and then Orlando, Florida, was No. 1.”
Shaq says David Stern sent him to Orlando
“‘You want to play where it’s cold or where it’s hot?’
I said hot… Orlando, Florida, number one [pick].”
(Via @AshleyNevel, h/t @CourtsideBuzzX / @Fullcourtpass )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 19, 2025
That year, the Magic had the second-best odds to win the top pick. They jumped the Timberwolves for the right to draft Shaquille O’Neal.
Fast forward to 2025, and the Mavs were the joke of the league after trading away Luka Dončić for pennies on the dollar. With another generational prospect (though not on Shaq’s level) on the table, Dallas won the lottery with just a 1.8 percent chance at the top pick.
The Mavs’ surprise win got Shaq thinking about his own experience.
“I didn’t think anything about it, but you hear a lot of these conspiracy theories and there’s a lot of situations that could make these things sound good and sound true,” O’Neal explained. “Like OK, Dallas gets rid of one of the best players but, ‘Oh we’re getting a new one, ding ding ding ding ding!'”
The draw to conspiracies these days goes much deeper than the NBA Draft lottery or even sports in general. We also have to remember that Shaq loves to goof around and troll.
Still, this story is sure to spin up sports fans who believe transactions — or even games — are scripted and predetermined.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.