It took less than a minute for Dikembe Mutombo to realize he had done something horribly wrong after he tweeted a premature congratulations to his former team for winning the NBA draft lottery.
“Congrats to @Sixers on grabbing the #1 spot in the #NBADraft,” he tweeted hours before the 76ers actually won the lottery,
It was a tweet that had been suggested in an email, which Mutombo forwarded to For The Win, sent from a team staffer in the event that the team did win the lottery.
“As you know tonight is the NBA Draft Lottery and we are all excited and hopeful we walk away with the #1 overall pick,” the email read. “To help create excitement for the team, would it be possible for you (or whoever controls your account) to post a congratulatory tweet in the event we do get the #1 Overall Pick?
I know you have ties to many teams, but none of which would be in the running for the #1 pick this year.”
There were sample tweets provided, along with a suggestion to just retweet the 76ers account.
Mutombo said he was busy and didn’t read the email carefully, but wanted to be supportive so he posted the tweet. When he realized his mistake minutes later, he immediately took it down. “Sorry, guys,” he tweeted. “Got excited about the @sixers odds and got ahead of myself.Still keeping my fingers crossed for tonight.”
So when fans argue the tweet is proof the draft is rigged?
“People will say whatever they want to say,” he said on Tuesday night. “… You cannot stop them.”