The NBA began to draw lots from 1985. Every year when the playoffs are in full swing, the NBA will convene teams that fail to enter the playoffs to hold a lottery ceremony to decide the ownership of the top three draft picks in the future.

In the lucky draw ceremony, the host will take out 1- 14 ping-pong balls and put them into the container. Four balls are randomly selected from 14 balls, regardless of numerical order. A * * can produce 100 1 possible combinations.

Before the draw, the teams that didn't qualify for the playoffs had been ranked in reverse order according to the regular season record, and the corresponding combination number (probability) of winning the first prize was obtained.

Extended data:

The worse the team's record in the regular season, the more results will be distributed. The team at the bottom of the league will get 225 results.

Then shake out four balls like a lottery, and a group of four numbers is born. Which team's performance includes this, it will have the first prize.

Then put the four balls back in the bucket, repeat the above process twice, and take the second and third draft (note: if the ignored result is shaken out, it will be invalid, put the balls back and repeat the above procedure). Teams that don't get the top three picks will get the fourth to thirteenth rookies according to their regular season records. The worse their record, the higher their ranking in the draft.

According to the regulations, the whole lottery process will be attended by NBA officials, 13 team representatives and accountants who supervise the lottery. After the "lucky draw", the accountant will put the cards with the team logo in three envelopes marked 1 to 3, and then seal them. Neither granick, vice president of NBA, nor the team representative can know in advance what the result is in the envelope.

Subsequently, the NBA will officially announce the lottery results. First, the draft picks from 4th to 13 were announced, and then granick opened the envelope and announced the top three teams in turn. This means that the team marked in the last opened envelope will win the "No.1 pick" in the draft one month later.

Baidu encyclopedia -NBA champion symbol