The NBA Draft lottery reverberates throughout sports

"I love it when a plan comes together."

That was the famous catchphrase of John "Hannibal" Smith — the iconic leader in "The A-Team" TV series — who often murmured those words through a chomped-on cigar. It also could have been the catchphrase of NBA commissioner Adam Silver, cigar included, after Sunday's NBA Draft lottery. 

The Atlanta Hawks, despite having just a 3% chance, earned the No. 1 overall pick for the first time in franchise history. They became the fifth-least likely team to win the No. 1 pick in the event's history.

This meant that for the sixth straight draft lottery, the team with the worst record in the league did not get the No. 1 pick.

A stat like that might evoke another TV character impression from the NBA offices, with executives saying "excellent," like Mr. Burns from "The Simpsons."

It could sprout more draft conspiracy theories from those who brought you the 1985 NBA Draft "frozen envelope" conspiracy. 

The NBA adjusted its draft lottery rules before the 2019 edition to make it even harder for the worst team to get the first overall pick.

The theories are that this was in response to the Philadelphia 76ers and their "Trust the Process" campaign, in which they appeared to continually tank for top draft picks year after year.

The Detroit Pistons, maybe trying to follow a similar plan, earned the No. 1 pick in 2021 when they drafted Cade Cunningham but have not drafted No. 1 overall. This result came despite the Pistons having the worst record in the league in the past two seasons (a franchise-worst 14-68 in 2023-24) and setting the record for the longest season losing streak (28).

Not only did the Pistons not earn the top pick Sunday, but they didn't even earn a top-four pick. For the second straight season, Detroit will be drafting fifth. The worst team had never dropped to fifth in the lottery before, which has happened in back-to-back years. 

The NBA has long had a tanking problem. But for the past half-dozen years, the lottery has shown that being the very best at being the very worst does not benefit anyone. 

Meanwhile, Silver instituted the play-in tournament in 2020, expanding the playoffs and, theoretically, keeping more teams competitive. 

What a proof of concept it was to have the Hawks not only play in the play-in tournament but wind up with the top pick in the draft. It shows that teams can have their cake and eat it, too. You can compete for a playoff spot while earning a top draft pick to continue to build for the future.

In theory, this should encourage more teams to aim for the top seeds of their conferences instead of the top draft picks. 

It seems like a plan that is working in the NBA. Make it harder to tank for the No. 1 pick while showing that you can be both a playoff team and a lottery team. 

The NBA is not alone.

Major League Baseball altered its rules in 2022, following the Cubs and Astros "tanking" their way to World Series titles. MLB now prohibits teams from getting consecutive lottery picks, forcing those teams to draft outside of the top nine.

That's why the Washington Nationals, who drafted No. 2 in 2023, will be drafting 10th this year. Even though they had the fifth-worst record in the majors last season, the Nationals did not have a chance at the No. 1 pick in the lottery. Washington paid into revenue sharing and cannot have a lottery pick in consecutive years.

So, a clear message has been sent in these leagues: Tanking will no longer be tolerated, and they're actually doing something about it. In the NBA, so far so good.