The NBA is Rigged?? Shocking!

I was telling people a few weeks ago that the NBA was rigged. How come road wins for teams in the playoffs were few and far between? How could LeBron James not be called for traveling during the Wizards/Cavs series but get called for it twice in the 1st game of 2nd round against the Celtics?

Most people just laughed it off saying the idea was far fetched. Only a few people agreed with me. They agreed that out of all the major sports, the one that is most likely to be rigged is the NBA.

Well, this week Tim Donaghy just admitted this week that the fix was in for several games. Donaghy, who has pleaded guilty for betting on several games which he officiated, has just confessed that several games were influenced by league officials. The fix includes the Kings/Lakers series in 2002. In game 6, the Lakers got to the free throw line 27 times in the 4th quarter. The Lakers ultimately went on to win the NBA finals in 2002. Donaghy also hints that game 7 of that series was also rigged to the Lakers as well.

Rick Adelman expressed his frustration about the officials after game 6 of the Western Conference finals:

"Our big guys get 20 fouls tonight and Shaq gets four? You tell me how the game went," Adelman said. "It's just the way it is. Obviously, they got the game called the way they wanted to get it called."

Your 2001-02 Champions
the Sacramento Kings?!

Another series that Donaghy accuses the league of rigging was the 2005 1st round match up between the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks, where Yao Ming mysteriously started to pick up fouls for setting screens. Perhaps the league wanted to see a matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns, where the MVP of the league Steve Nash would play his former team. Here is a clip of the game below indicating how one sided the officiating became:

The Houston Rockets vs. the Dallas Mavericks
Game 5

Stern denies the allegations, but why should we believe him? If Donaghy is wrong, there is a good chance that he could face a jail sentence longer than 34 months. If Dongaghy is thinking in his own self interest, he will tell the complete truth to minimize his time in jail.

Given Donaghy's recent allegation of the league, it also does not seem far fetched that the Celtics/Lakers finals was more than just coincidental. Just look at the ending of game 4 of the Spurs/Lakers series where a foul should have been called on the Lakers. Of course the explanation was that "he did not sell the foul".

TNT debates whether of not Brent Barry was fouled.