Mutombo: 'No conspiracy' in his prescient tweet on lottery
NEW YORK - Former 76er Dikembe Mutombo is not a mind reader and he did not have any inside information, but his tweet a few hours before the NBA draft lottery Tuesday night congratulating the 76ers for earning the first pick was certainly an attention- getter.
NEW YORK - Former 76er Dikembe Mutombo is not a mind reader and he did not have any inside information, but his tweet a few hours before the NBA draft lottery Tuesday night congratulating the 76ers for earning the first pick was certainly an attention- getter.
The Sixers, who had the greatest chance of earning the first pick (26.9 percent), did indeed get that selection. And afterward, Mutombo was happy for the team and said that he became a headliner on draft night.
"It was a mistake on my part," Mutombo said in a telephone interview. "We need to move on."
How did the mistake occur?
A Sixers employee who deals with the team's alumni sent out an email to Mutumbo asking, "Would it be possible for you . . . to post a congratulatory tweet in the event we do get the No. 1 overall pick?"
At 4:29 p.m., Mutombo posted on Twitter: "Congrats to @sixers for grabbing the #1 spot in the #NBADRAFT. #PHILAfirst."
The tweet was soon deleted after the NBA saw it and brought it to Mutombo's attention.
"There was no conspiracy theory, it was a mistake on my part," Mutombo said. "I just sent it quickly without reading it closely."
NBA commissioner Adam Silver emphatically agreed with Mutombo.
"My understanding is that they told Dikembe, 'We want you to tweet this if we win' and he went ahead and tweeted it and withdrew it because it was a mistake," Silver said. "And I have no questions about the integrity of the lottery."
Michael Preston, the Sixers' director of public relations, gave the team's response to the incident: "Our alumni [are] important to us. Dikembe realized he made a mistake and it happens from time to time and we appreciate his support and the support of our alumni, but it was clearly unintentional."
In the lottery room
A number of hours after the tweet, the NBA had 12 writers (including one from the Inquirer) witness the lottery process in a room at the New York Hilton.
Reporters in attendance knew the Sixers earned the No. 1 pick about an hour before the lottery was televised. The announcement that the Sixers earned the top pick came at 8:26 p.m. Reporters had to give up their cellphones and any other communication devices to ensure that the news wouldn't get out before the television audience saw it.
Representing the Sixers in the drawing was co-owner Art Wrubel, who also brought 10-year-old Kylie Rubin, the daughter of one of his partners, whom he called a "good luck charm."
The most impressive thing was how calm Wrubel was. There was no jumping around and yelling.
"My emotions were in check," he said. "You have to act like you have been here."
Actually, the Sixers hope they aren't there again in the near future.
@sjnard
