Pacers-Knicks going 7 games..but Carlisle is livid saying small market teams needs be given a chance to win ouch!!! He gotta get fined lol
Reminding me of the Bucks and 76ers in 2001. The Bucks feeling the NBA refs worked against them to make sure they wouldn't make the Finals because Philly was the bigger market / draw than them.
The Western conference has Minnesota, OKC and Denver ll in the second round none of whom are exactly "big" markets. In the East Indy beat Phili round 1, so that's weird if the NBA wants "bigger" markets to advanced.
Denver won a title last year. SAS got Wemby in the lottery. If the NBA is rigging stuff in favor of big markets then they are doing an awful job at it.
There's levels to how they can influence games. I mean look at those awful calls in game 1, just inexcusable. Tell me how 3 refs mistake a kickball on a play so out in the open.
Do you really think Donaghey was the only one? I sincerely doubt it. Now with gambling legal, the odds of there being dirty refs has got to be higher than ever.
I'd think the league may not outright fix things, but maybe just put a thumb on the scale in ways they try to make it not look so obvious.
The burden of proof is on you to prove this, though, because with the legalisation & widespread acceptance of gambling comes an incredibly high level of scrutiny. If they were actually 'putting a thumb on the scale' in any way you could definitively prove - that is to say, beyond the refereeing being somewhat variable game-to-game in a series - the referees involved (not to mention the league itself) would instantly be in absolutely massive hot water.
From a 'health of the league' perspective, there is more money to be had than ever before. As a result, two things are true: the gains from illicit behaviour have never been smaller, and the risks have never been higher - because
all of that money would vanish overnight if the league was ever found making any sort of organised 'thumb movements' like you're describing.
Now, would the NBA front office prefer to have Lakers/Celtics, Warriors/Knicks, etc etc every year in the Finals? Sure. So would Wyc. So would the Buss Family. So would Dolan & Lacob. But you seem to be unaware of the sheer scope of difficulty in what you're suggesting.