National Basketball Association

Celtics co-owner takes lucky Portuguese rooster to NBA draft lottery

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:44 p.m. ET

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UPDATE: The rooster wasn't so lucky as the Celtics failed to make the most of their rare appearance in the lottery, landing the No. 6 pick. But they still did better than the Lakers, who wound up with the No. 7 pick.

We know the Boston Celtics have a history of laying an egg at the NBA draft lottery, but this might be taking it too far.

Co-owner Stephen Pagliuca will bring a lucky Rooster of Barcelos figurine to New York when he represents the team at Tuesday night's lottery, according to ESPN.com. The rooster, which was a gift from the ambassador of Portugal, is believed to be a symbol of good luck.

Pagliuca's explanation to ESPN's Chris Forsberg is a little vague, but a Wikipedia entry claims the rooster is from a fable in which a man is wrongly sentenced to hang for theft. The man declares that, when he is being hanged, the dead rooster from the judge's dinner platter will crow — which it does. The judge runs to the gallows to save the innocent man, only to discover a knot in the rope gave way, saving the man.

The Celtics have the fifth-best odds in this year's lottery to land the No. 1 pick, following memorable disappointments in 2007 and 1997. If the rooster is as lucky as the legend says it is, maybe the Celtics finally will have a lottery result worth crowing about.

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