Do you genuinely believe the 02 WCF were rigged?

[perks-a-beast]

interested to see where people stand on this.

It's hard to deny that it would be in the leagues best interest to have a LAL-NJ series opposed to a NJ-SAC finals, even though I think Kings/nets would have been a much better series from a basketball standpoint.

The calls against the Kings in the 4th were so bad they would have been considered outrageous in a regular season, let alone a pivotal playoff game with such high stakes.

Tim Donaghy said the game was fixed, but take that for what it's worth considering his lack of credibility.

What do you think?

Personally, I can't say for certain if the league tampered with the outcome of the game, but the Lakers '02 title will always have an asterisk next to it in my eyes.

..I don't know, man..it's just hard to think this league that I love so much could be so corrupt.

[Sophomore]

I still remember watching the game. I don’t know if the fix was in, but the referees definitely took that series away from Sacramento. The Kings deserved to win.

[Who]

My memory of that game is Sacramento choking under the pressure.

Bricking free throw after free throw. They would have easily won that game if they had just made some of those FTs.

No leaders on that team except for Mike Bibby. Chris Webber doing his usual vanishing act when times got tough. Intimidated by Shaq and afraid to be aggressive.

I looked it up. 16-30 FTAs for Sacramento. Choke city.

[RMO]

My memory of that game is Sacramento choking under the pressure.

Bricking free throw after free throw. They would have easily won that game if they had just made some of those FTs.

No leaders on that team except for Mike Bibby. Chris Webber doing his usual vanishing act when times got tough. Intimidated by Shaq and afraid to be aggressive.

I looked it up. 16-30 FTAs for Sacramento. Choke city.

Game 6?  I remember them doing that in game 7.  I have to admit I've never watched game 6, only read about it.  Don't think I could stomach it even 17 years later.

[Donoghus]

Game 6 certainly seemed that way.

The one sporting event I can recall watching thinking something was up.  Lakers shot 27 FTs in that 4th quarter. 27!!!  Kobe basically assaulted Bibby and no call yet there were some very ticky tack fouls called on the Kings down the stretch.  Both Pollard & Divac fouled out.  Just some really fishy stuff in that particular game.

[Who]

My memory of that game is Sacramento choking under the pressure.

Bricking free throw after free throw. They would have easily won that game if they had just made some of those FTs.

No leaders on that team except for Mike Bibby. Chris Webber doing his usual vanishing act when times got tough. Intimidated by Shaq and afraid to be aggressive.

I looked it up. 16-30 FTAs for Sacramento. Choke city.

Game 6?  I remember them doing that in game 7.  I have to admit I've never watched game 6, only read about it.  Don't think I could stomach it even 17 years later.

Oh yeah. I got the games mixed up. That was Game 7 where Sac choked.  I don't remember Game 6 at this point.

[RPGenerate]

I think you need to split this into two questions to get a person's full opinion. First question, did the refs screw the Kings? I think the answer to that is undeniably yes. Anyone with functioning eyes and simple basketball knowledge could see that the Kings win in game 6 if the reffing wasn't garbage. Now the second question, did the refs screw the Kings PURPOSEFULLY on a league wide conspiracy to get the Fakers into the finals? Now that's a harder sell. I'd say it's possible, and quite probable, but it's hard to say.

[Jvalin]

Yep. For what it's worth, I believe the lottery is rigged as well. Not necessarily each and every year, more like whenever the league has an incentive to do so. For instance the 1985 draft (the first of the lottery era) when the Knicks drafted Patrick Ewing, the 2007 draft when the 3 worst teams got punished for tanking, the 2012 draft when New Orleans drafted AD etc.

[Chief]

Yep. For what it's worth, I believe the lottery is rigged as well. Not necessarily each and every year, more like whenever the league has an incentive to do so. For instance the 1985 draft (the first of the lottery era) when the Knicks drafted Patrick Ewing, the 2007 draft when the 3 worst teams got punished for tanking, the 2012 draft when New Orleans drafted AD etc.

Or Cleveland getting all those #1 picks to set up Lebron's return.

[Jvalin]

Yep. For what it's worth, I believe the lottery is rigged as well. Not necessarily each and every year, more like whenever the league has an incentive to do so. For instance the 1985 draft (the first of the lottery era) when the Knicks drafted Patrick Ewing, the 2007 draft when the 3 worst teams got punished for tanking, the 2012 draft when New Orleans drafted AD etc.

Or Cleveland getting all those #1 picks to set up Lebron's return.

The Lakers keeping their pick 3 years in a row (2015-2016-2017), the Bulls moving up from #9 (1.7% chance) to select D Rose in 2008 and the list goes on and on... No proof obviously, just my personal opinion.

[knuckleballer]

I don't think it was exactly fixed, but I do think the refs favored LA because they knew that is who the league wanted to advance.  Donaghy has explained that refs know what teams the NBA is promoting and know they will be graded higher and get more playoff games and therefore more money by helping those teams.

I do think he has credibility.  He was giving NBA gambling advice for a fee after getting out of prison and doing very well.

"He’s successful roughly 60 percent of the time — that’s about five points higher than most professional gamblers, which means that in the world of sports gambling, the name Tim Donaghy is gold."
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2015/06/tim-donaghy-gamblings-golden-boy.html?gtm=bottom&gtm=top

[johnnygreen]

I don’t know if the league fixed the game, but the referees certainly did. That was an embarrassment for the league. Since I don’t believe David Stern ever punished or fired those referees, then maybe the league did want the Lakers to win. I do believe the league did fix the 2006 Finals between Miami and Dallas. Miami, and Dwayne Wade in particular, were going to the foul line on phantom calls. I felt like David Stern had a personal vendetta against Mark Cuban.

The whole Tim Donaghy thing is fascinating to me. I don’t know what’s worse, the fact the he was fixing games or that he blended in with the rest of the referees. I lean towards the second part because that would mean either more referees were betting on games or the league had an agenda. Having said that, I do believe Donaghy was a scape goat.

I think the NBA, and basketball in general, could help referees out by getting rid of the charge call. For one, it is such a subjective call to make. I also think it would bring more excitement to the game. I’ve mentioned this idea before, but I would rather watch the players try to block shots and actually play defense than to see a grown man fall to the ground because someone bumped into them.