When an NBA team wins the draft lottery, suddenly the person they sent to represent them becomes the face of a momentous occasion. That person's job description goes from "sit there, smile, hope for the best" to "pose for a bunch of photos, do a bunch of interviews, and become forever associated with this franchise-changing stroke of luck."
In the case of the Dallas Mavericks in 2025 ... that effect is particularly pronounced. It didn't (seem to) matter all that much whom Dallas sent to the lottery because they had very low odds of winning it. They sent Rolando Blackman because ... well, probably because Mavs fans are still mad at everyone else associated with the organization after they traded away Luka Doncic.
And then, against all odds, the Mavericks won the lottery and the chance to draft Cooper Flagg. Blackman became the face of an extremely lucky, totally undeserved moment in Dallas franchise history. Let's talk about it.
00:02Based on the photo alone, it does look like you can easily see a...
00:07What did you know?
00:07What did you know, Rowan?
00:08We got away with it, Rowan.
00:13Every year, the NBA determines the top of its draft order by lottery.
00:18The odds are weighted, and the rest is pure luck.
00:21There's nothing for anyone to do but accept their fate.
00:24Still, each team sends someone to go accept that fate.
00:28And since there's no job but sitting and hoping, that representative can be anybody.
00:33Teams often send employees, but they've also sent famous investors, players from other leagues, players from other eras.
00:40They've even sent a child, which worked out great.
00:44No matter what, at least one of these people will get lucky.
00:47Perhaps extremely lucky.
00:49And depending what that luck means, the job of the representative suddenly changes.
00:54Which brings us to this guy.
00:55This episode is presented by Honda.
00:58The all-new CRV Trailsport Hybrid is built to explore.
01:02So, before we get to who this is and what's happening here, I want you to imagine yourself in his position.
01:09You've been sent to Chicago to go sit at a podium at the draft lottery, and that's your job.
01:15Just sit there and wait for the odds to go as they may.
01:20What's that long weekend looking like for you?
01:22Are you going to put a lot of thought and focus into doing your job really well?
01:27Are you bringing a good luck charm?
01:29Are you just hanging out?
01:30How seriously would you take this role?
01:32I mean, first blush, that's a relaxing weekend.
01:35Right?
01:36Yeah.
01:36It sounds like a free trip to Chicago.
01:39Chilling the hotel room.
01:41Get the room.
01:41Room service.
01:42Room service.
01:43And what do people do in Chicago?
01:45Hot dogs.
01:46Windy.
01:46What about good luck?
01:53All you have is luck at the lottery.
01:56Would you bring anything with you?
01:58I've never really had a good luck charm, but if it was my job, and it's like, well, I don't want to get fired, so I'll put something into it.
02:05Get a rabbit's foot at the airport.
02:07Right.
02:07I'm just bringing my finest suit, you know?
02:10Oh, yeah.
02:11You're just going to dress really well?
02:12Yeah, you're just going to dress really well, you know?
02:13That's actually really smart.
02:14Look good, feel good.
02:15I think I would probably show up at the lottery, and you could tell that I was enjoying my weekend.
02:19Like, I'd be in the hotel bathrobe, like, wearing the Chicago Blackhawks hat with, like, all sorts of Chicago merch all over me.
02:28Yeah, just really windy.
02:29Is that the only thing you know about Chicago?
02:30Is it wrong?
02:32I don't actually know.
02:33So, this is Rolando Blackman.
02:35He does not work for the Dallas Mavericks.
02:37He used to play for the Dallas Mavericks.
02:39He was a really good player for the Mavs.
02:41He was an all-star in the 80s.
02:42He was their draft lottery representative.
02:45And if anyone knows anything about how the 24-25 season went for the Mavs, this makes some sense.
02:51Without even knowing that much, like, why do you think Rolando Blackman is representing the Mavs at the lottery?
02:57I honestly do not know.
02:58I was just going to say, sometimes it's like, we have to give a former player a job.
03:02Maybe we could just let him sit in the draft.
03:04He's just, like, going through a list.
03:05He's up.
03:06Yeah, yeah.
03:07Or, you go down the list and everyone on the list, the entire fan base is mad at them because you just traded away Luka Doncic.
03:16Fair.
03:16So, you know, often the team owner might be at this or the GM might be at this or some of the players on the team or the coach.
03:24But I think the Mavs must have gone down the list and been like, either people didn't want to do it or they were just like, people are going to be too angry to see us on TV.
03:33So, the Mavs had very, almost no chance, like, a 1% or 2% chance of winning the draft lottery.
03:39This job was literally 99% going to be just sit there, get the 12th pick.
03:44Wave at the camera.
03:45Right.
03:45And so, the GM, Nico Harrison, knowing that everybody on earth who cares about the Dallas Mavericks is still angry at him for trading away Luka Doncic, was like, I'm not going to get this negative PR for no reason.
03:58Let's send a former player, let's send someone who's not directly affiliated with that trade to represent us.
04:04They probably asked more people.
04:05They were probably like, Dirk Nowitzki, you want to go?
04:07And he was like, oh, I have a thing.
04:08Rolando was like, sure, yeah, I'll take a trip to Chicago and then go sit in a chair for a little bit.
04:13And then, the Mavs won the lottery.
04:15And this is what that looked like.
04:17He really looks like he's enjoying himself and I'm happy.
04:19It's nice because it seems like he really cares about his former team, right?
04:23Yeah.
04:24It's nice.
04:24That is after the excitement of winning something.
04:26Yeah.
04:26You didn't do anything.
04:27Yeah, you didn't do anything.
04:29That is the key right there.
04:30Doing nothing but winning.
04:32Every team sends one person to be in the lottery room.
04:34And that was some like assistant GM who brought like a good luck charm.
04:38He had gotten a sticker from his kid that he brought with him.
04:41And he said it was a good luck charm.
04:43Rolando Blackman said the exact quote was, I just brought a positive, fantastic spirit.
04:48And I kept repeating, we're going to be number one.
04:50We're going to be number one.
04:51He secreted it.
04:52Yeah.
04:52He just like sat there and vibed as hard as he could.
04:55And it worked out for the next.
04:57And the thing about getting the number one pick, especially when you had really long shot odds,
05:03is if it happens in a year when there's a very obvious number one pick, like this year,
05:08you become the face of that luck.
05:10So Cooper Flagg is going to be the number one pick in the NBA draft.
05:15And if you look back at past years, there were like that.
05:17When the Knicks won the first lottery, everyone pictures Dave DeBuscher holding up, you know,
05:22the rights to draft Patrick Ewing.
05:24When the Magic won the lottery twice in a row and got Shaq and Penny, Pat Williams, the owner
05:28of the team, became sort of the face of that.
05:30Steve Francis was the lottery representative when the Rockets got the rights to Yao.
05:34Gordon Gunn getting LeBron.
05:35The son of the owner of the Cavs, Nick Gilbert, when the Cavs wanted a bunch in a row, like
05:40you immediately become associated with this moment forever.
05:44And so Rolando Blackman, who again, 98, 99% chance he would have had nothing to do, been
05:50on TV for all of five seconds, no interviews, nothing, will forever be associated with this
05:56extreme long shot good luck that the Mavericks got.
05:59Great smile.
06:00It's a great smile.
06:01He looks great.
06:01It is complicated somewhat by, again, the fact that the Mavs, in most people's eyes,
06:08deserve this good luck the least that anyone has ever deserved it.
06:12And it's not Rolando's fault, but it's a weird spot to be in, to be associated with that forever.
06:18I wonder if he takes it into other aspects of his life, if he's like, I'm lucky now.
06:23Yeah, do you immediately go by a scratcher like that day?
06:27I'm a millionaire.
06:28Yeah, this is a million dollar ticket.
06:30This is it.
06:31He's already a million dollar.
06:32He played in the NBA.
06:33He was an all-star.
06:34Like, he's doing fine, I think.
06:36I think what's cool about this gig is, again, there's no skill.
06:40There's no qualification involved whatsoever.
06:44You want to be, you know, have a nice face for TV and not act weird on camera.
06:48Yeah.
06:48But you don't have to do anything.
06:50Even after you win the lottery, all you got to do is give some interviews and stuff and
06:53be like, great, I'm happy we did it.
06:55And so I've looked back to see, like, how weird it's gotten.
06:59You know, teams usually just still send, like, a player or their coach or the GM, someone
07:03who cares about what happens.
07:06The Suns sent Diana Taurasi one year.
07:08That's fun.
07:09She was part of the Phoenix Mercury, so that was cool.
07:12The Knicks sent Walt Frazier one year.
07:14Cavs, there was that run where they kept sending Nick Gilbert, who is the son of the owner,
07:19Dan Gilbert.
07:20One year, the Nets sent Jay-Z, who was technically an investor in the team, but obviously not what
07:25he's well known for, just sitting there.
07:27I'm still trying to figure out, like, how far afield you can go.
07:31Can you pick, like, last year's Mega Millions winner and be like, this guy's got good luck.
07:35Oh, yeah.
07:35You go for that.
07:37Can you send a non-person?
07:39Could you send...
07:39What are the rules for that?
07:40Yeah.
07:41I have no idea, and I don't know how far teams have pushed this.
07:44That's not even that far.
07:46No, that's a relative.
07:47Yeah.
07:47That's fine.
07:48But this is about as unusual as it gets, is like, here is a person who no longer has
07:54any relationship with our franchise, but he used to play for us 40 years ago.
07:58It has a bit of, like, dare you to be mad at him feel to it.
08:02Yes.
08:03That is the thing that makes the Mavs situation unique.
08:06It's kind of like, well, we're not gonna win, so no one cares who's here.
08:10But if we do win, I don't want my face to be on TV, because everyone hates me.
08:16Do you know who had the best odds?
08:18The best odds of getting the top pick was Utah, and then Washington, and then Charlotte.
08:24So they're all dolled up, almost expecting to be on camera.
08:28Yeah.
08:28They're like, all right, what am I gonna say?
08:30Yeah.
08:30What speech am I gonna give?
08:32Like, what, you know, they're imagining Cooper Flagg and the jersey of their team.
08:35Right.
08:36And instead, it's flipped.
08:37So I'm only on TV for five seconds now, and I've been preparing all weekend.
08:41Could have been relaxing in my hotel robe.
08:43I liken this image, too.
08:44So the Rockets didn't have great odds of getting the first pick, but they got bumped down significantly
08:50because the Mavs jumped up.
08:52And so you see that Rockets logo looming in the background, fading, just like simmering
08:58with rage.
08:58You can feel the tension behind him.
09:01Would you guys want this role?
09:02Like, do you feel like lucky enough people that you'd feel comfortable in that seat?
09:07No.
09:10I want the role because it's easy.
09:13But I don't think I am a good luck charm.
09:15See, I love his energy, though, of just going and being like, yeah, it's gonna happen.
09:19Number one pick.
09:20It's gonna pick.
09:20Because if it doesn't, then like, you don't lose anything.
09:24It's just like, well, guys, I tried my hardest.
09:26I tried to will it.
09:27Yeah, I can't blame him.
09:28I think I would be nervous.
09:29Like, obviously, I would want, you know, the team I'm representing to win.
09:33I would be a little nervous about that outcome, though.
09:35It's kind of like being at a comedy show and not knowing whether or not you're gonna get
09:40picked for some crowd work, where like, I might go from passive bystander, just kind
09:46of zoned out, smiling when the camera points at me, to like, whoa, I have to engage now.
09:50Like, I have to perform.
09:51Suddenly, I'm like doing interviews and giving quotes to the newspaper.
09:54I would not be ready for that.
09:55I'm sure a lot of people were pissed thinking that this was rigged.
09:59Yeah, that is the thing, is there will forever, just like with the Ewing lottery, like, when
10:04people look at that picture of Dave DeBuscher celebrating that the Knicks won the lottery,
10:09that's often the headline of a blog post that's like, you know, was there actually a frozen
10:13envelope?
10:13Was the lottery rigged?
10:14Like, however unreasonable and illogical it is, there will forever be conspiracy theories
10:20that because the Mavericks and ownership traded away Luka, the NBA did them a solid and gave
10:27them the rights to Cooper Flagg.
10:29And so, yeah, Rolando Blackman, on those blog posts and Reddit threads or whatever, like,
10:34that's the photo that goes with this.
10:36Did the Mavericks rig the draft?
10:37Did Nick rig the draft?
10:38Yeah.
10:39Did it just him?
10:39It's not the shadowy figures that did the rigging, it's not the person who made the
10:46Luka trade, it's this lovely, innocent man who last played in the 1980s and doesn't make
10:53any decisions for the Mavericks.
10:54To be fair, like, if I got away with something really sleazy and I was really happy and just
11:00like a fat cat laughing at all the people who were unlucky, that's exactly how it would
11:04look.
11:05Yeah.
11:05Now he's giving the look of he knew something was up.
11:07Are you going full conspiracy theories?
11:08I'm going full conspiracy theories.
11:09Based on the photo alone, it does look like you can easily see a...
