The NBA's worst nightmare

Donaghy bets on games that he officiated and he STILL couldn't get ahead of the loansharks?

And we thought Barkley was a bad gambler.

 

Ha! I thought it was about a Cleveland-Spurs rematch.

 

Didn't last year's have the worst rating in all history? I'm pretty sure I recall that correctly.

 

You are correct, sir. Maybe once LeBron bails on Cleveland and goes somewhere half decent we won't have to say a LeBron James final would be a bad thing, but until then, it will be.

 

Yeah, true. Game 2 was up against the Sopranos finale and by 3 and 4 there was no more suspense involved, but you're right, the ratings tanked.

 

Having the game's two most-marketable young stars wouldn't be such a bad idea.

 

I don't know how many more answers they're supposed to give. After every game, should the refs be grilled about every call? And the NBA gets more criticism than any other league; that's hardly a free pass. Home teams have been dominant in the second round, but they weren't in the first round, and in years past it hasn't been like it is this round. So just this round the refs are again conspiring with mobsters? And most of these home games in the second round have been complete routs - in the Spurs-Hornets series the home team has won by 18 points a game. I don't know how a few blocking calls that should have been charges would change that.

 

San Antonio-anyone is an NBA death kneel

 

Do you want to prance around and put on a show and make Lupica happy -- or do you want to win?

Spurs know the right answer.

 

We've all seen the proof in the last 20-odd years.

The NBA is more fucking fixed than wrestling.

 

First, Hulk Hogan beat Andre in Wrestlemania III fair and square. That was as real as a heart attack, brother (as Hulkamaniacs might say).

If the NBA was fixed, I don't think the Spurs would be four-time champs, and there's no way Utah would have advanced to the finals in 97 (when they beat, among others, the Lakers and the Barkley-Drexler-Hakeem Rockets), or 98 (again crushing the Lakers). Would Detroit have swamped the Lakers in five games in 04?

It's probably because I'm an NBA rube, but I look at the Donaghy mess like the Jayson Blair debacle. After he was exposed, should we have never believed anything in any paper again? Should every story in the New York Times have been read with a skeptical eye, wondering if it was completely made up or plagiarized? Certainly many people did think that, but those people didn't really like the Times or newspapers to begin with, just like many people don't like the NBA to begin with and use the Donaghy mess to reaffirm their thoughts. I think most people understood Blair was a rogue reporter whose failings did not necessarily mean all newspapers were corrupt.

Donaghy was an out-of-control criminal who severely damaged the game and the league. But I don't see a conspiracy everytime a ref screws up a call or one team shoots 15 more free throws than the other (there's no rule that both teams have to shoot the same amount). If the NBA's fixed because of shaky reffing, then what about Don Denkinger, Eric Gregg's strike zone in 97 or Jeffrey Maier? The NFL has just as many examples, as does college football and basketball. I didn't see poor calls in those leagues and think the whole thing was fixed, so I don't understand why the NBA is the league that's always considered to be rigged.

 

Because of several reasons:

1. The perception that star players receive favoritism when it comes to the refs.

2. In the 1980s, I believe there were stats that showed that home teams had a fairly large advantage in the average number of free throws attempted.

3. A couple of years ago, Stern was asked who he wanted in the NBA Finals. He said, "Lakers-Lakers", showing he was hoping for one of the most marketable franchises to advance. I believe he later apologized, but it still shows his thinking.

4. In the mid-1980s, all you ever saw on CBS each week were the same three teams: Boston, Philadelphia and L.A. (Chicago eventually joined the rotation). Occasionally, one other team would be shown as an opponent (Detroit, Atlanta) with the Big Three. While I understand that you want to get high ratings, showing the same teams each week kind-of shows a bias.