Do you need to be a rich market franchise to have the favour of the NBA Commissioner if you want to win a NBA Championship?
Over the time that the National Basketball Association (NBA) has been around they has been a lot of controversy surrounding the way the NBA has handled itself. For example lets go back to a recent ex referee called Tim Donaghy who alleged that back in 2002 in a Western Conference Final Game 6 basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings that the referees fixed the result of the game because the NBA wanted 2 big market teams in the Playoff finals. Looking back on footage of the game you can tell that something is not quite right with the way the referees are calling the game in favour of the Lakers. This led to The Los Angeles Lakers beating the Kings and then onto the Eastern Conference Playoff Champions the New Jersey Nets in a 4-0 clean sweep.
Consider the frozen envelope. The theory goes that, back in 1985, the league was so desperate to place Georgetown titan Patrick Ewing with the Knicks that commissioner David Stern and various conspirators fixed the proceedings so New York’s envelope would be selected first. This was done by placing the envelope in a freezer, making it easier to detect by touch, and creasing the corner of the envelope by flinging it, Frisbee-like, against the side of the clear-plastic hopper. Yet again the New York Knicks is a major fan based franchise so would making sure they hometown boy gets picked to them help the league bring more fans into the NBA if he went to his hometown team? Coincidence?
Personally I think that the fans are now pretty educated on the fact that there’s going to be star treatment in the NBA, that certain players are going to get the benefit of calls that other players aren’t, and it’s obvious to them that certain players are going to be able to get away with a little bit of a traveling versus other players. So there’s a set of rules, and it’s a rule book, and you’re supposed to go out and enforce those rules as they’re written, but it just doesn’t happen. Special players getting special treatment, and that’s just the craft of officiating in the NBA. This is the case for the greatest player in the world at this time Lebron James. Hence the NBA wanting they most marketable superstar in the playoff finals every year regardless of the controversy.
Finally i finish up with this, If you look back at the NBA draft is it not too much of a coincidence that hometown stars who are bonafide number 1 picks end up going to they hometown teams? Does it make more sense moneywise and to the casual fans to have 2 teams like Los Angeles Lakers or Boston Celtics in the playoff finals instead of say Phoenix Suns and the Atlanta Hawks? A ex referee comes out and admits to nba fixing games and results and drafts but is then made out to be a liar, yet theys proof to say otherwise. All we want is a fair NBA....