Margie Parilo was lucky, to be sure. Just not lucky enough.
In the NBA draft lottery in Secaucus N.J. on Tuesday, the Kings season ticket holder who was selected to represent her favorite team in the event watched as the expected outcome of a No. 12 pick indeed transpired. The Kings had a 93.55 percent of picking 12th and a combined chance of 2.54 percent chance of landing in the top three.
The outcome of the top pick was a stunner, as Chicago won it despite finishing with the ninth worst record in the league last season and having entered with a 1.70 percent chance of picking first. The second pick went to Miami, which had the league's worst record and a 25 percent chance of picking No. 1. The third pick went to Minnesota.
At Chris Webber's Center Court restaurant in Natomas, 28 members of the Parilo family joined to cheer their relative on in an event in which Kings co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof covered the tab for the entire clan.
They wore purple t-shirts that read "Margie, Bring us Home - #1." On the back of the shirts, Parilo's lucky number of 3:33 was displayed, with her mother, Jean, explaining that her daughter's life had been strangely full of fortune-filled events that took place at that time or involved the No. 3. The fact that the event didn't take place at the time, Jean agreed, may have been what kept the Kings from being as lucky as their fan. Parilo, though, found her full 15 minutes of fame.
She sat next to Indiana team president Larry Bird and New Jersey Nets partial owner/rapper Jay-Z as the picks were announced on national television, with the musician musing that he wasn't quite as lucky as he had thought.
"I thought I was the luckiest person in the room, but I see there's a luckier person than me," he said with a laugh. - Sam Amick
News, observations and reader questions about the Sacramento Kings and the NBA.
May 20, 2008
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.