The 2011 NBA Draft Lottery is a good reminder: the Wizards didn't land John Wall in the 2010 NBA Draft, John Wall landed on Washington. That's how it had to be, since the Wizards, on their own, have a history of avoiding success in the annual draft lottery.
Last year, Dan Steinberg wrote the definitive history of the Wizards lottery woes. But this year, the level of pre-lottery dread doesn't seem that high in the district. Maybe it's the John Wall effect and fans' short-term memory. Maybe it's the uninspiring draft class.
Whatever it is, SB Nation D.C. is here to remind you how typically terrible the Wizards are in the lottery. When the ping pong balls forsake Washington at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN, don't say we didn't warn you. The gory details after the jump.
The rundown, courtesy of Steinberg:
The franchise has sent John Nash, Irene Pollin, Tom Gugliotta, Chris Webber, Susan O'Malley, Rod Higgins, Juan Dixon, Ernie Grunfeld and Flip Saunders to the NBA set in New Jersey, and it's never worked. They've had their mascot walk all the way to Secaucus in a PR stunt. They've brought the horseshoe of the Kentucky Derby winner. One employee wore a lucky suit on lottery day. Two carried rabbit's feet. A fourth said he wore lucky underwear. A fifth carried a lucky penny. A sixth carried a lucky coin. A seventh wore a dragon's claw and something called "a ying-yang," The Post reported.
Susan O'Malley once led a cheer of "Lucky!" among team employees. (Really.) She also once packed three duffel bags full of lucky charms to bring to the lottery site, including a speeding ticket and a pen. That year, a Brooks Robinson home run bat wasn't allowed on board her plane, while four horseshoes from the Preakness winner never arrived.
And none of it's worked.
Of course, then there was the last time -- pre-Wall -- that the Wizards won the lottery. It was only slightly MORE heartbreaking. That selection yielded all-time draft bust Kwame Brown in 2001. Sorry -- shouldn't have brought it up.
So remember, Wizards fans, the NBA Draft lottery isn't all cupcakes and stud point guards of impeccable pedigree. Nope, usually it's filled with heartbreak and what-could-have-beens. Pine for Derrick Wiliams now, but in the back of your mind, prepare for a big man from Europe that you've never heard of before with a name you can't spell. And don't say we didn't warn you.
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