Not to mention going up into the stands after the fans.
Eff 'em both.
Posted on 05/02/2014 12:32:37 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy recently accused the NBA of coercing referees to help the Brooklyn Nets defeat the less glamorous Toronto Raptors in their first round playoff series. This echoes previous claims by Donaghy about the NBA manipulating games. The most notorious example is Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals, when the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers staved off elimination by defeating the Sacramento Kings. Donaghy alleged that two referees (understood to be Dick Bavetta and Bob Delaney) fixed the game.
Donaghy was convicted of betting on games so he may not seem a reliable accuser, but many considered him an insider with privileged information. And he wasn’t the only one who found something amiss in Game 6. Announcer Bill Walton (throughout the game), prominent sportswriters, and consumer advocate Ralph Nader all ripped the referees for poor calls favoring the Lakers. Many critics noted that the Lakers shot 27 free throws in the fourth quarter, and the Kings only nine.
An NBA game could, of course, be fixed. That’s why the NBA maintains an extensive security department. Its concern is largely about addicted, vengeful or mentally ill players, referees, and even owners, perhaps in association with gamblers. History includes several examples of rogues rigging sporting events.
But Donaghy’s allegations are more spectacular. He claimed that the NBA hierarchy instigated the fix in 2002 - that the referees received an NBA-approved message to manipulate Game 6 in the perceived best interests of the league - and that the NBA persists in this odious practice.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearsports.com ...
The way the fouls were called in the OKC - Memphis game last night makes one wonder.
The NBA lost me years ago when the majority of players seemed to be on drugs, wife-beaters, thugs or gang members. I’d rather go watch my daughter’s junior high team. Those kids play hard, but clean.
I could care less if all the professional sports teams just disappeared.
Money talks. Always has. No specific idea if the refs favored the Lakers. By then I had tuned the NBA way out.
But it doesn’t have to be a playoff Game 6 for refs to blow their whistles in favor of a team. It’s a general mindset, imo, for refs in all sports to consciously favor the Big Name team.
And not just in team sports. “You gotta really beat the champ” in boxing. Or “Lendl’s ball didn’t really nick the line.”
Michael Jordan was allowed walking, palming and phantom foul calls for years.
They fixed the Bucks/76ers playoff series back in 2001 for sure.
Had to have that ratings bonanza in the finals (Iverson v Kobe/Shaq...too bad it was a terrible series that the Lakers won 4-1, but David Stern got the marquee matchup he wanted.
Was the last time I watched an NBA game.
Jordan threw the worst tantrums if he didn’t get a call when he missed a shot!
I was still watching some round ball back then. Now I just catch some college BB now and then.
Yea there a fine line between sports and wrestling
I thought fining and banning Sterling fixed the NBA.
the fixed games were the Kings v. Sharks..
Sure felt like it.
Still have my 2002 Pacific Division Championship t-shirt though.
The officiating has always been rigged. I thought the Donaghy thing would bring an end to it. But, maybe not.
The beauty of the free market is that, today, you can’t bribe a player. They have more money than any 10 mobsters. But the league can tell a ref what to do to ensure higher rating$.
I remember that Laker-Kings series (was a Kings fan living in N. Nevada). It was obvious someone with the power to alter things wanted the Lakers, not the Kings in the finals that year.
Sacramento deserves to lose.
Always.
addicted, vengeful or mentally ill players, referees, and even owners
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