David Kahn, Minnesota Timberwolves GM, Hints NBA Draft Lottery Might Have Been Rigged (VIDEO)

UPDATE: David Kahn said on Wednesday that his remarks about the NBA draft lottery being fixed were intended as a joke.

Despite having the best chance at winning the top pick in Tuesday night's NBA Draft Lottery, the Minnesota Timberwolves finished the night with the No. 2 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. T-Wolves GM David Kahn is far less than happy with that result; so unhappy, in fact, that he thinks something foul might be afoot.

Kahn spoke after the Cleveland Cavaliers, represented at the lottery by Dan Gilbert's 14-year-old son who suffers from neurofibrosis (a nerve disorder), were awarded the top pick in the 2011 draft. Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press reports:

"This league has a habit, and I am just going to say habit, of producing some pretty incredible story lines," Kahn said, while smiling, on Tuesday. "Last year it was Abe Pollin's widow and this year it was a 14-year-old boy and the only thing we have in common is we have both been bar mitzvahed. We were done. I told (Utah executive) Kevin (O'Connor): 'We're toast.' This is not happening for us, and I was right."

Even if some of what Kahn said was in jest, or at least not with the utmost of seriousness, it would be surprising if he didn't find himself on the receiving end of some sort of punishment from the league. Allegations of fixing draft results are sure to be taken very seriously by NBA commissioner David Stern and company.

Kahn has been GM of the Timberwolves since 2009. Before working in sports business, he was a sportswriter for the Oregonian and the Los Angeles Times.

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Comments

[plzchuteme]

09:33 AM on 05/20/2011

I have no horse in this race and follow from the periphery, but the first words out of my mouth once I heard the lottery results were, "Ah ha. This is obvious payback by the league to Cleveland for allowing that disgraceful act of player collusion by the Miami Musketeers to win some rings." Obviously, the T-wolves are still on Stern's sheet-list for trying to pull a fast one years ago. He couldn't take away all of their draft picks forever, but making sure they wouldn't win the draft lottery is almost as good.

[the5thhorseman]

09:20 AM on 05/19/2011

Bring back the ABA and the Doctor. I don't think I've even seen an NBA game since the 2000 Sixers/Lakers series. As entertainment, interest in professional sports has waned over the past 25 years and they only have themselves to blame. And except for the people who need the add'l income (from a second job) and work in these stadiums as event staff, whose cutting back and purchasing the store-brand product? The owners? The athletes? Screw 'em all...

[KennyO st33]

08:20 AM on 05/19/2011

The whole league is fixed. We know this already. A referee got caught fixing the games.

[Peopleatist]

07:52 AM on 05/19/2011

The NBA is fixed. Just watch the first quarter, watch the fouls being called. Which ever star is in foul trouble after 12 minutes, his team loses.

Now you no longer need to watch any games.

[Seafarer61]

11:13 PM on 05/18/2011

The worst team in the league should get the number one draft. Enough of this silly ping pong ball nonsense.

[IsotelusMaximus]

10:49 PM on 05/18/2011

Could you imagine an NFL or MLB general manager hinting that their league is fixed? The NBA is quickly losing all it's creditability.

[rhomsky]

08:53 PM on 05/18/2011

Patrick Ewing!

[benhawkins]

06:43 PM on 05/18/2011

The NBA is corrupt at its core. It is the only league that has to hold a lottery so its teams don't tank games at the end of a season for a high draft pick. It was done with Ewing and with Olojuwon. Now they say the lottery itself is fixed. How can we believe in the results of the games then either?

[EStreetShuffler]

10:50 AM on 05/19/2011

Actually, the NHL uses a draft lottery as well. It's not exactly the same as the NBA's, but similar.

Admittedly, there have been some pretty suspect draft and playoff storylines, but if the NBA was really corrupt, how do you explain the Lakers getting rolled in four straight games this year? Wouldn't the league want the Lakers playing for at least five or six games?

And with the draft, when Tim Duncan came out, he was clearly the top pick. And San Antonio got the pick that year. Wouldn't a rigged lottery have sent him to a team like Boston that was also in the lottery that year? And wouldn't the NBA have done something to make the Knicks not stink for so long, since they're in the biggest TV market in the country?

It's easy to get suspicious when you have examples of things working out too predictably, but there are so many examples where that theory doesn't hold up either.

[local21]

05:44 PM on 05/18/2011

The accounting firm of Arthur Anderson was on hand to validate .......

[tonyt420]

05:40 PM on 05/18/2011

The lottery has been rigged since the very first one when the Golden State warriors finished last and the New York Knicks miraculously got the first pick, Patrick Ewing.

[JusticeontheRocks]

05:32 PM on 05/18/2011

The games are all rigged, why shouldn't the draft be?

[Gigity]

05:28 PM on 05/18/2011

He should bring Corky from Life Goes On to the draft next year.

[AngryDem48]

01:06 PM on 06/04/2011

LMAO!!

[texlib2112]

05:27 PM on 05/18/2011

You can expect a nice big fine from David Stern.

[IsotelusMaximus]

05:26 PM on 05/18/2011

I didn't know that the Timberwolves were even a team anymore.

[Darryl Clayton]

04:03 PM on 05/18/2011

Although there have been 'suspect' NBA lotteries in the past (see 1985 draft lottery), I don't think there's anyone in this years draft that would vastly improve Cleveland or any other team. In fact, I think Minnesota's in a better position because they don't need a point guard, so they can take the best #2,#3, or #4 available.