Shockwaves reverberated throughout the NBA on Monday when the Dallas Mavericks won the 2025 NBA Draft lottery. The Mavs entered the night with a 1.8% chance — the 12th-best odds out of 14 total picks — to leap to the top spot.
There may not have been a more controversial winner, as general manager Nico Harrison and the Mavericks’ front office decided to trade superstar Luka Dončić in early February — a move that led to their fan base revolting. If it weren’t for that decision, though, the Mavericks would presumably have made the playoffs and wouldn’t have had the chance to get the first pick.
That reality, combined with the fact that it had the fourth-lowest probability of winning the lottery, sent the league into a frenzy. Mavericks fans rejoiced. Opposing fans and players hated it. Everyone else was in plain shocked.
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Here are some of the best reactions from around the sports world:
Kansas City Chiefs QB and three-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes is a die-hard Mavericks fan, appearing courtside at multiple games during their run to the NBA Finals in 2024.
Cuban, the Mavs’ former majority owner, has wavered in his support for Dallas since the Dončić trade but was seemingly excited by the news.
All LeBron James and Kevin Love could do was laugh in disbelief. Their reactions perfectly encapsulate the irony, the confusion, the disbelief; all the emotions of the situation. James’ reaction is especially notable, as his Lakers were involved in the Dončić trade. James said in an interview last month that he believes the NBA lottery could be rigged.
FOX Sports’ John Fanta laid out just how stacked the Mavericks’ roster could look at full health if they selected Duke prospect Cooper Flagg with the first overall pick. Point guard Kyrie Irving tore his ACL in early March and won’t be back until late next season, but the Mavericks should be able to stay in the playoffs picture without him. With battle-tested veterans such as NBA champion Anthony Davis and four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson and talented young players like Dereck Lively and Flagg rounding out their roster, they’re set to contend in the present and future.
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