I see this being said more and more nowadays. I don't think the NBA is rigged. I think bad calls are what they are, bad calls. Bad calls happen at every level from rec league to the pros. If we all watch bad calls from the rec leagues to the pros doesn't it make more sense that there are simply bad calls everywhere and that the game isn't rigged?

To an extent I say yes. Tim Donahue didn't lie IMO when he said certain refs are likely to call things on certain players or have certain things at stake during games.

 

I think the NBA wants the best teams to advance for the ratings and revenue but I'm not sure if they'd go to certain lengths to make sure that happens.

 

I'd say of the 3 major sports this one would be more than the other two.

Games...probably not

 

Draft Lottery (at least in the past)...probably so

To an extent I say yes. Tim Donahue didn't lie IMO when he said certain refs are likely to call things on certain players or have certain things at stake during games.

 

I think the NBA wants the best teams to advance for the ratings and revenue but I'm not sure if they'd go to certain lengths to make sure that happens.

 

I'd say of the 3 major sports this one would be more than the other two.

 

While I don't think games are "Fixed" or "Rigged" by the league...I can see the league possibly trying to manipulate series based on officials assigned and knowing a particular officials tendencies and which team it may give an advantage to.

For conversations sake, yes. Not sure to what extent, but it's not that crazy of an idea, IMO.

For conversations sake, yes. Not sure to what extent, but it's not that crazy of an idea, IMO.

 

I don't think it is to a wrestling level, but I do think it could be manipulated very subtly.

I don't know if it rigged or not, but I think it is a joke for refs to be able to control a game like they do.

I think Adam Silver needs to clean house with these refs and bring in some new ones and stricken the rules a bit.

I don't think it's rigged, but the officiating in the NBA is not very good IMO.

Here is the problem in the NBA and basketball at every level. It is the most subjective sport in its officiating. Any time things are subjective, there is more controversy/debate/etc. The action in basketball is fast paced with the ability for officiating calls to be made at almost any time. Half the time a call is made, it is subject to debate. Even these really controversial calls that have happened in the recent playoffs like the Clippers out of bounds, no foul call can be debated after watching multiple replays. I think the officials made the right call on that play. Many people think it was wrong. Both sides can watch that replay over and over and not change our opinions. When you have so much subjectivity on so many calls, you have controversy and suspicions of rigging naturally follow. I don't think it is rigged. I think it is part of basketball.

Here is the problem in the NBA and basketball at every level. It is the most subjective sport in its officiating. Any time things are subjective, there is more controversy/debate/etc. The action in basketball is fast paced with the ability for officiating calls to be made at almost any time. Half the time a call is made, it is subject to debate. Even these really controversial calls that have happened in the recent playoffs like the Clippers out of bounds, no foul call can be debated after watching multiple replays. I think the officials made the right call on that play. Many people think it was wrong. Both sides can watch that replay over and over and not change our opinions. When you have so much subjectivity on so many calls, you have controversy and suspicions of rigging naturally follow. I don't think it is rigged. I think it is part of basketball.

 

 

Exactly.

I'll never be convinced that any official purposely makes an incorrect call for any reason at all.

 

I think Tim Donaghy was an anomaly.

Games...probably not

 

Draft Lottery (at least in the past)...probably so

 

Agree.

I see this being said more and more nowadays. I don't think the NBA is rigged. I think bad calls are what they are, bad calls. Bad calls happen at every level from rec league to the pros. If we all watch bad calls from the rec leagues to the pros doesn't it make more sense that there are simply bad calls everywhere and that the game isn't rigged?

 

 

 

The Officials, The Calls, The Spread, & The Scrubs:

 

Bad calls are bad calls. Bad calls when there's a spread on the line are bad calls when there's a spread on the line. Seeing a scrub come down and hit a 3 when people are like, "why'd he shoot that, they were down 25 and there was 10 seconds left" is just that.

 

Basketball has the highest amount of points in a game of any of the major sports, so it's much easier for the spread to be influenced by late, garbage time points.

 

Then there are bad calls like the ones against the Clippers, which ironically happened on the day that Sterling comes out and says he's going to fight the league on his suspension... those could be a subtle way of saying, "wanna see how bad things can get, here's your future...".

 

Tim Donnaghey? I don't think he's as much of an anomaly as most.

 

 

 

Large Markets and/or Star Power in the Playoffs:

 

The NBA probably wants Kevin Durant and LeBron James squaring off in the Finals, not a San Antonio or Indiana team that isn't seen as flashy and lacks star power.

 

The Celtics were called for 5 technical fouls in their 2012 Game 1 matchup with the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.

 

2002 Kings vs. Lakers Games 5, 6, and 7?

 

2001 Philadelphia vs. Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference Finals? (Two questionable flagrants and a technical against the Bucks late in Game 6 anyone???).

 

2000 Lakers big comeback against Portland???

 

 

The length of playoff series is just as much of a factor as having large market teams there, and it is not beyond the imagination to think that seeing a few more games televised won't harm anyone... I mean, what's the difference in a 4-0 sweep and a 4-1 sweep and a Game 7 will get more interest than a close-out game where a team has a 3-2 advantage.

 

 

 

The Smoking Gun - The Draft Lottery:

 

I'm no mathematician, but I can tell you that since 1991, the team with the best odds of winning the draft lottery has won... exactly twice.

 

No one knows exactly how the lottery really works (what numbers are given to what teams aren't released beforehand to my knowledge). The fact that it isn't televised just adds to it.

 

Let's work chronologically:

 

1. The original-- Patrick Ewing to the Knicks and the "frozen card"?

 

2. Yao Ming going to Houston in the lottery (one of the cities with a huge Asian population, when his handlers were saying they wanted him to go to a team with a large Asian market)? What was Houston's chances of winning the lottery that season? Around 8-9%?

 

3. Cleveland winning the lottery for the hometown savior LeBron James?

 

4. Derek Rose to Chicago? They had less than a 2% chance of winning the lottery that year.

 

5. Washington landing the first pick and rights to John Wall? What about the rumors that they'd be moved to Brooklyn and them losing Gilbert Arenas before that. They had a 10% chance of winning, which is reasonable enough, but I think we can start seeing a trend here.

 

6. The NBA-owned New Orleans Pelicans winning the Anthony Davis draft lottery when they were trying to find a buyer?

 

When's the last time a Portland, Milwaukee, or Minnesota has won the lottery? What are the chances they'd have won in some of those years? In years they did "well" considering the "random chance of the ping pong balls", were they able to land a game-changer like a LeBron, Davis, etc.?

 

 

What really gets me: people will acknowledge the "funny odds" and entertain these conspiracy theories about the lottery, which basically insinuates that they believe the NBA COULD be manipulating where the best players end up, but think it just ends there.

 

 

 

 

The Conspiracy Theories:

 

Rumors Stern suspended Jordan for gambling and that's why he tried baseball?

 

Cleveland winning the lottery the year after LeBron leaves?

Rumors that John Wall whispered "welcome to Cleveland to Kyrie Irving before the lottery was televised?"

 

The Chris Paul trade to

 

 

 

The Bottom Line:

 

No other league has this many conspiracy theories floating around it.

 

No other league has an official like Tim Donnaghey who is now serving Federal time for gambling and who has candidly talked about how rigged the league is.

Edited May 18, 201412 yr by JokersWild24

If my above post is too long, just read the part in red and see the odds of which teams were likely to fall in the lottery over the years, then think about the rest of the statement.

 

Maybe I'm an oddball who needs a tinfoil hat, but I think the better question might be-- to what degree is the NBA rigged???