It started with a simple Season Ticket Holder suggestion at a Kings Open Mic Dinner -- have a Kings Season Ticket Holder represent the team at the 2008 NBA Draft Lottery in hopes of landing the Kings a top three pick in the June 26 Draft.

Following Kings co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof's enthusiastic endorsement, the plan was set in motion.

After hundreds of people submitted in writing why they were the Kings LUCKIEST Season Ticket Holder, the field was narrowed to 70 contestants. Those Season Ticket Holders were then invited to shoot 60-second testimonial videos at ARCO Arena. Of those videos, 24 were posted on Kings.com for fan voting. Kings fans voted for two rounds to narrow the field to six finalists and then it was time to let fate decide.

The finalists -- Rob Hessing, Kathy Johnson, Margie Parilo, Paul Page, Paul Shank and Clint Walker -- put their luck on the line Sunday at Center Court restaurant in Natomas. As a live feed of the event unfolded before Kings fans watching on News10 and the standing room only crowd on-hand, the final six Kings Season Ticket Holders were randomly assigned a former Kings first-round pick's jersey -- Spencer Hawes, Quincy Douby, Francisco Garcia, Kevin Martin, Jason Williams and Peja Stojakovic. To determine the winner, one of the players’ jerseys was also randomly placed in a Kings briefcase. The Season Ticket Holder whose randomly selected jersey matched the jersey in the briefcase won an all-expense paid first-class trip to be the Kings representative at the Draft Lottery on May 20.

The lucky jersey was Francisco Garcia's purple number 32.

And with that, it became official. Parilo, who has been a Kings Season Ticket Holder since 'Day 1,' is the Kings LUCKIEST Season Ticket Holder and will represent the team live on ESPN at the NBA Draft Lottery.

"I'm thrilled, absolutely, totally thrilled," an exuberant Parilo said. "It's exciting. What a great Mothers Day present!

"It couldn’t be better," Parilo exclaimed of being a Season Ticket Holder for 23 years. "Isn't it incredible? It makes it so much fun. Everything is just wonderful."

A native of Sacramento and married mother of three, Parilo has been a CPA for nearly 30 years and also works as a professor at Cosumnes River College. She was joined by 14 family members who celebrated with her on stage in the restaurant that had been turned into a TV studio for the afternoon.

"I think everyone is pretty excited, it's not an everyday thing," Kings fan and Center Court server Jennifer Burger said. "Especially, the Season Ticket Holders are excited because you don’t expect to be on TV and have (this opportunity). So I think it is exciting for them and the people who walk in here and see the all the cameras."

Before Parilo proved to be the LUCKIEST Season Ticket Holder, Kings TV host Jim Kozimor was joined by Kings guard Quincy Douby who gave insight into what draft time is like for players hoping to be selected in the NBA Draft.

"I think this is great because we have a lot of fans who support us and they are always there for us, so I think they should go there to represent us and maybe give us some good luck with the lottery balls to give us a good pick," Douby said.

With a history of drafting good players no matter what pick the team has, Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie also participated in the event by giving fans his inside take on what goes into the process of scouting, evaluating and picking a player in the Draft.

Since moving to Sacramento prior to the 1985-86 season, the Kings have claimed just two top three draft choices. In 1989, Pervis Ellison became the only Kings player drafted 1st overall, though 30 years earlier, as the Rochester Royals, the franchise won the top pick (Bob Boozer) as it had done in its first-ever Draft in 1957 (Rod Hundley). In 1991, the Kings drafted Billy Owens with the third pick, thus beginning the 17 years since the Kings have garnered a top three selection.