Despite heading into the NBA draft lottery with just a 6 percent chance to land the No. 1 pick, the New Orleans Pelicans ended the night having won the Zion Williamson sweepstakes.
CHICAGO — Ahead of this year’s NBA draft lottery, the New Orleans Pelicans held a contest for a season-ticket holder to submit a lucky charm to wish the team success.
The winner, Connie Halphen, gave Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin a 56-year-old wooden angel.
It turned out to be exactly what the Pelicans needed.
New Orleans leapt up from the seventh spot to the top of this year’s draft Tuesday night, earning the right to take Zion Williamson in next month’s NBA Draft. The Pelicans had just a 6 percent chance to win the lottery.
“Connie had a good luck charm and it happened to be an angel,” Griffin said. “It was fitting.”
New Orleans winning the lottery capped a wild night that saw three teams — the Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers — leap far up the order, throwing chaos into one of the most anticipated drafts in recent memory.
The first shock was when the Lakers were revealed to have jumped up from the 11th spot — a moment that drew gasps from the crowd inside the Chicago Hilton ballroom. A similar reaction occurred when the Washington Wizards were revealed to have the ninth pick — meaning the Grizzlies and Pelicans had jumped up.
“I wasn’t good enough at math to realize when the Washington Wizards came up ninth,” Griffin said with a smile.
