For a moment in the closed-off lottery drawing room, there is real suspense. The machine with the 14 pingpong balls inside flips on, the balls fly around, and a timekeeper with his back to it waits 20 seconds before raising his hand, the signal for the operator to suck up the first ball.
Those 20 seconds last forever. In that 20 seconds anything is possible for 14 franchises. Even if you have no stake in the outcome, you get butterflies in your stomach. And then, in a snap, it was over: The machine spit out the "1" ball, and a quick scan of your handy-dandy lottery guide showed the Sixers owned 250 of the 286 four-number combinations featuring the number one.