2022 NBA draft lottery: times, date and how to watch online and TV?
As the NBA heads into the Conference finals, the league is already setting its sights on what’s up ahead. The NBA draft lottery begins tonight.
The race to become the 2022 NBA champion is close to reaching peak excitement, with the field now down to four. All eyes will be on the teams playing for the Conference championship, but those who didn’t make it that far have something else on their mind- the NBA draft lottery.
The 14 teams that failed to make the playoffs will be given the chance to select the best players in the 2022 NBA draft in June. The lottery where the numbers are drawn will only determine who will get the top four picks. The rest of the selections will be handed out depending on how a team performed last season.
2022 NBA draft lottery: Four-number combos
Being a lottery, the event will all boil down to chance, and some ping pong balls. Each team is given a certain number of four-digit combinations, which you could think of as their lottery tickets.
Four balls will be drawn to come up with each combination. The team that has the first combination will get the number one overall pick, and the subsequent numbers will then determine who gets picks No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4.
The draft lottery is a game of numbers, and the odds are stacked in favor of the teams who had the worst records in 2021-22.
It may be a matter of luck, but getting the top pick can change the course of a team. Number one overall selection LeBron James became NBA Finals MVP four times, while number two pick Kevin Durant won this honor twice.
2022 NBA draft lottery: How to watch
- Date: Tuesday, May 17, 2022
- Time: 8:00 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT
- Location: Chicago
- TV: ESPN (live coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT)
- Online and streaming: fuboTV, Watch ESPN, ESPN app