Finals by Foul: the NBA Finals Fix

[Jacob1983]

I think most NBA fans wouldn't that much about the refs if the refs would admit their mistakes publicly and weren't so protected by Stern. NBA fans probably would less about the league being rigged, manipulated, and/or influenced by refs if the refs and Stern would just admit that there is some influence or manipulation going on in the league.
If you look at the stats in all 4 major sports, an NBA player will make a free throw attempt more often than a hockey player will score a goal, a baseball player getting an RBI, and a football team scoring a touchdown or field goal. There are some players in the NBA that shoot almost 90 percent at the FT line. That means those players' teams have a 90% of basically getting easy/free points. You won't find that high of a percentage of getting easy points in any other sport.

[v2freak]

NBA.....the last 25 yrs it's been faaaaaaantastic for 6 teams....

Stern has done a wonderful job.

30 years, actually. 2006 was an anomaly with the Heat getting the le. The combination of Wade and Shaq's star power and intervention from the refs spelled doom for the Mavs.

[MiamiHeat]

I think the fact that we have threads and conversations about this is telling. I have honestly never felt that a game was rigged in any other sport I've ever watched, college or professional, other than an NBA game.

You have several factors in play here:

1. The potential for marquee vs. insignificant match-ups in later rounds depending on who wins or loses the current series
2. An inherent conflict of interest arising out of the series-based playoff system which generates more profit the longer each series goes on
3. The potential for significant referee involvement due to the breadth and nature of potential fouls
4. Evidence that referees harbor biases for and against certain players, coaches, owners, and teams
5. A comissioner that appears to be a greedy little

You forgot

1) Mafia/gambling influences/addictions of referees. The opportunity to make a lot of money is there.

2) Money from TV contracts.

An easy solution might be for the league to cap its playoff revenue at a certain easily obtainable amount with the excess spilling over into an account that is then dispersed to the teams in the particular series at issue.

In other words, the league would then have no vested interest in an exciting versus boring a matchup, or a long versus short series.

That wouldn't work.

TV contracts. As the NBA playoffs as a whole becomes more or less popular, the NBA can charge more money or less money for their TV contracts.

So even if certain matchups don't go 7 games, TV money, merchandise sales, all of this plays into effect when it comes to playoff results.

The NBA sucks, period.

Stern is rigging everything because of 2 reasons

1) The NBA suffered tremendously when Michael Jordan retired. The very reason for the NBA's stratospheric rise in popularity, MJ, was the same reason for the NBA's rapid crash back to earth.

2) The NBA suffered again when the "image" of the NBA became "thugs, tattoo'd rappers, and hoodlums"


Basically, Stern decided to take DICTATORIAL control over the NBA.

Blame a ref, fined $30k.

Don't wear a suit on the bench? Fined.

Rule changes. Let's open up the NBA and create more dunks and highlights.

We need star power again! Referee's, go do your jobs!
Now, my loyal referees, I want you to keep an EXTRA CLOSE eye on the Celtics tonight. They are getting a bit too physical and we need to rein them in and call a nice clean game, ok guys? Keep a close eye on them. I'm NOT ordering you to call fouls on the Celtics, but I want you to keep a CLOSE EYE on them. OK? now go out there, fellas!