Thirty-four years ago, the future of the New York Knicks franchise rested inside a square-foot-sized white envelope.
It was early afternoon on May 12, 1985, and Knicks executive Dave DeBusschere sat nervously on the dais on the 18th floor of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan, holding his head in his hands ahead of the first-ever NBA draft lottery.
As seven envelopes tumbled inside a spinning plastic globe next to NBA commissioner David Stern, DeBusschere was looking for all the luck he could muster. Hours earlier, DeBusschere had attended mass at a church near his home, admitting that he was "a little selfish" during his prayers.