OT: RIgged officiating in the NBA?

Submitted by PeterKlima on

People have made the very reasonable argument that in a multi-billion dollar industry (sports) that depends to a certain degree on "judgment calls" that there HAS to be a less than insignificant level of "cheating" by officials.

 

We see cheating in every other aspect, but we refuse sometimes to acknowledge its possibility by officials. Even after a ref or two comes out to and comments that it happens. I think that we convince ourselves to believe it is not true because we love to watch the games. If we were to discuss and even possibly accept that the playing field may not be equal it would fundamentally undermine something EVERYONE on here loves (sports).  We won't allow ourselves to believe it is possible.

 

With that said, it is also very difficult to prove. This video (from Reddit, yes) is pretty interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YZatX_6i5WY

 

 

What do you think?

Naked Bootlegger

April 2nd, 2013 at 10:38 AM ^

I despise the NBA.  Can't watch more than a minute of it before switching channels.   I used to be an NBA junkie in the 80's and early 90's, but just grew so tired of it.   This is why I'm so depressed to see Trey Burke potentially leave for the greener NBA pastures after only 2 years in Ann Arbor...I will probably never watch him on the hardcourt again.

MGoStu

April 2nd, 2013 at 10:57 AM ^

Yes. Loved watching in the 80's, but became gradually more and more dissatisfied with it. About the time Shaq was with the Lakers and was allowed to just lower the shoulder and run over anyone who tried to guard him was when I really started to hate watching. And then game 6 of the 2002 Western conference finals finished it for me. Every couple years I try to watch a game, but it doesn't take long to remember why I hate it.

In reply to by PeterKlima

gmoney41

April 2nd, 2013 at 3:38 PM ^

Great book.  I remember hearing the author being interviewed on an alternative radio show and immediately bought it.  I follow international soccer and know how prevelant this type of stuff is.

MGoRossGrad

April 2nd, 2013 at 10:16 AM ^

I don't think it's as "consciously" rigged in that sense.

I think it would be safe to say though that as unbiased as refs want to be, they're gonna give the benefit of the doubt to an NBA superstar over anyone else.  Why?  Because the sport wants to solidify them as being virtuous, hardworking, honest heroes and therefore if a superstar player acts in a certain way ("not" fouling, or flopping), refs will go along with it instead of trying to stand up against it.

Other than that, it's a pretty solidified notion that good officiating is rare.  It's a difficult job in real time.

IPFW_Wolverines

April 2nd, 2013 at 10:52 AM ^

In one of my classes a few years ago there was a guy that sat beside me who had been an ump in minor league baseball. I asked him who he rooted for and he said "I hate every one of those motherfuckers"  He explained that they were treated so poorly by every team and its fans that it made it impossible to root for anyone. I asked him if umps slanted calls based on how a team treated them each game and his response was "I am sure it happens to a degree without the umps even realizing it. It would seem to be human nature." However, he did say that no ump he had known ever purposely made bad calls. The ump system he explained worked much the same way the system does for players. You get promoted up through the ranks of the minor leagues just like a player and your ultimate goal is the majors. Making bad calls would mean never getting promoted. The guy i was talking with had been "let go" after eight years umping in the minors the same way a player gets released from a team. His answers seemed legit considering he had been released and was obviously bitter about it.

Perkis-Size Me

April 2nd, 2013 at 10:31 AM ^

I never really cared for the NBA much anyway. I suppose part of it came from not growing up in a town with a team, but after the Malice at the Palace, I just came to believe that the league as a whole was a joke anyway.

phork

April 2nd, 2013 at 11:24 AM ^

So easy to call a foul here and there, it doesn't even need to be lop sided.  Shave enough points or add enough points to cover the point spread either way.

gmoney41

April 2nd, 2013 at 11:39 AM ^

I used to love the NBA in the late 80's and 90"s.  I have always been a Pacer fan, and the series that really told me how the NBA works was the Pacers-Bulls 97 7 game series.  Game 7, Mark Jackson fouls Michael Jordan on a fast break, Jordan proceeds to throw the ball into the back of Jacksons head, normally a technical foul for anyone, but not the great MJ.  We end up loosing momentum and losing game 7.  That game showed me how rigged the league was.  Not to mention the fact that stars get preferential treatment, which in itself is cheating.  Like I said, I am a Pacer fan and love Reggie, but like MJ and most of the league, these guys would travel every time they got the ball.  I never understood why traveling and carrying was never called.  There is a lot I don't like about the NBA,  and yes that Lakers Kings series and the Lakers Blazers series were some of the biggest travesties in sports entertainment.

mackbru

April 2nd, 2013 at 11:40 AM ^

I love the posters who just flatly say "of course it's rigged." As if they've seen enough evidence to conclude that there is a widespread conspiracy involving multiple refs. 

The reddit video is a statistically meaningless sampling. You'd need to study games across the board. And of course the video doesn't take into consideration bad calls that may have gone against the Lakers. 

If you're gonna be a conspiracy theorist, at least bring persuasive evidence. 

The reason there aren't more mass conspiracies is simple: it takes a lot of people to a) pull them off and b) keep their mouths shut. People, in the end, rarely stay quiet.

His Dudeness

April 2nd, 2013 at 11:43 AM ^

Absolutely. I have said it for years. Watch the games. It's as obvious as WWF.

The refs can't dictate who wins, but they sure can send a guy to the FT line giving them a hightened percentage of a chance to win.

Look at the D Wade Heat against the DAL series when the Heat won it with Shaq. D Wade personally went to the line 20-30 times in one game. Umm... that's a bit odd.

M-Wolverine

April 2nd, 2013 at 12:14 PM ^

The Kings always comes up, and the Trail Blazers, but man, the whole run by Miami that year was the biggest shift in oficiating I have ever seen.  Dwayne Wade had been a really good player, but hadn't earned superstar status yet (he was still probably the second best player on his team) and then all of a sudden he starts getting calls like he was Michael Jordan after 6 championships. Not only was it superstar calls, but it was unearned superstar calls. It was like Stern needed some new stars (how long could he let Detroit and San Antonio make up the Finals?), Miami was hot and hip with Shaq down there now, so he created them.  Guys used to get the "you get breathed on it's a foul calls" but they had to earn something in the playoffs before they had shown they deserve it. Wade was just anointed.

And as bad as the Pistons got the shaft in the Eastern Conference Finals, it was 10x more outrageous what happened to the Mavs.  That was borderline Kings stuff there. (I'm sure it being Cuban's team didn't help favor them either).

His Dudeness

April 2nd, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^

Agree.

And as weird as it is I totally forgot what happened to the Pistons in the ECF.

I remember Sheed saying "They wanted their King and they got him." or something like that after the game. Now most people hate Sheed because he is very polarizing. I love him just like I loved Rodman, etc. Anyway people gave Sheed so much shit for saying that when he was absolutely right in saying it.

Your recollection of the Wade - DAL series is spot on. That series is rarely remembered, but it was completely absurd. Just as bad as the Kings-Lakers thing.

To play devils advocate a bit here. I always thought it was strange when the Pistons swept the Lakers as well. It seemed as though Ben Wallace was just crushing Shaq and there weren't as many fouls called. Then the very next year it was as if the rules changed and "physical defense" went away. If you go back and watch that series it really does look like a different game than how it is called now.

The NBA is a joke.

M-Wolverine

April 2nd, 2013 at 2:45 PM ^

When they started imploding on each other and really became unlikable.  I think those Pistons were physical, but not overtly dirty. (The Bad Boys used to cross that line more). But I think the turning point was when the Pistons went back and then played the Spurs, and it was two fundamental, team oriented organizations matching up, and after all the talk of "team basketball being back" Stern went "what am I doing?!?! We need more superstars!!" and suddenly stuff that was ok became fouls. That's one of the reasons they let Ben go to Chicago, because they knew the things he did best weren't going to be allowed anymore, and while worthwhile to have, he wouldn't be as effective anymore.  

But the other side of that is unless you really suck in a year that an actual superstar comes out and win the lottery, you're never going to be considered a team that has a chance at winning it all. Which is great for national ratings, but doesn't do a lot for local markets.

M-Wolverine

April 2nd, 2013 at 4:44 PM ^

In the second round too for Cuban's sins.

I mean, Cuban is constantly calling out Stern for things he thinks are wrong. Sometimes he's right, sometimes he's not, but there's no love lost.  Cuban may be the most fined NBA person since the Bad Boys funded the NBA offices.

SamirCM

April 2nd, 2013 at 11:54 AM ^

Honestly, that is my policy when it comes to the NBA, it is so utterly messed up that it isn't worth watching. If you're not in a major market, good luck making the playoffs. Oh sure, you might look good, but aside from minor blips, the only teams that will win the titles in the near future will be the Heat, the Lakers, and other major cities, while everyone else just gets a slap on the back for showing up.

 

It's not worth getting angry over any more for me, I just would prefer doing something else with my time.

gmoney41

April 2nd, 2013 at 11:55 AM ^

This is why I call most pro sports, sports entertainment.  The simple fact that stars get preferential treatment creates an unfair advantage. 

Gatekeeper

April 2nd, 2013 at 12:39 PM ^

in Order of how rigged, I can list some

 

1) NBE (National Basketball Entertainment, not NBA)

2) Boxing

3) WWE wrestling

4) NFL football

 

I can't believe this is still being questioned. The NBA has been rigged for years. Several people have come out and revealed this, but the NBA administration finds a way to discredit those individuals.

I'm just surprised that they players act surprised anymore. They already know what's going on. They could even be implicit in the fix as far as I'm concerned.

smwilliams

April 2nd, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^

The fact you put the NBA ahead of boxing shows that while you do have a grasp on the level of riggedness (is that a word?) in pro sports, you really need to watch more boxing.

Boxing decisions are routinely called outrageous and if you are fighting a guy in his home country/city, be prepared to knock his ass out or lose. I used to love boxing before a series of terrible decisions (culminating in the Pacquiao-Bradley fight) turned me off the sport for good.

Now, the NBA certainly, um, has delved into some questionable tactics in the past (that Kings-Lakers game is certainly Exhibit A), but it's not outwardly fixed like boxing.

Some series off the top of my head...

'94 Eastern Conf. Semis (Hue Hollins calls phantom foul on Scottie Pippen, handing Knicks the series over MJ-less Bulls)

'93 Western Conf. Finals (Barkley's Suns shoot three times as many free throws as less "sexy" Sonics team to win series in 7)

'02 Western Conf. Finals (as seen earlier)

'06 NBA Finals (enough fans swore off the NBA because of Wade's reckless drives to the basket being called fouls on Dallas)

'07 Western Conf. Semifinals (Horry hipchecks Steve Nash into scorer's table, Suns bench reacts, two starters suspended for crucial Game 5)

'99 Eastern Conf. Finals (phantom 4 point play for Larry Johnson, every game has at least 2-3 calls go against Pacers so Knicks can make the Finals)

I'd say the '00 Blazers got screwed (without looking it up, Lakers shot 40 free throws in Game 7, Blazers shot like 10), but they also turned the ball over a zillion times and looked lost throughout the 4th quarter.

jmblue

April 2nd, 2013 at 1:11 PM ^

'07 Western Conf. Semifinals (Horry hipchecks Steve Nash into scorer's table, Suns bench reacts, two starters suspended for crucial Game 5)

I'm not a big fan of David Stern and agree that superstars basically get a friendlier whistle than other players, but the league actually has been pretty consistent about suspending players who leave the bench to walk onto the court. One year it suspended several Knick players against the Heat, which effectively cost them that series (and cost the NBA a marquee Knicks-Bulls matchup in the next round).

Even in the example you cite, Steve Nash was a much more marketable star than Horry, so if anything they should have protected him and his team.  San Antonio was never a crowd-pleaser of a team.  The fact that the Spurs have won four championships since 1999 would seem to refute some of the allegations of the league being rigged.  It would make no sense for  them to repeatedly favor a small-market team playing a pretty boring brand of basketball.

MGoBender

April 2nd, 2013 at 1:50 PM ^

Lemme infuse some rules here.  The #1 most commonly misunderstood rule:

If you shoot an airball, you may rebound it.  It is not traveling or double dribbling or whatever.

I wrote a post in length about this a while ago.  However, when idiot announcers don't know it, then you get idiot butthurt fans that make YouTube videos with false evidence that the refs are cheating.

The Tim Donaghy story is legit.  Looking at replays of plays in super-slow-mo and deciding that a close play was called incorrectly is not at all decent evidence for "cheating" from officials.

TheLastHarbaugh

April 2nd, 2013 at 2:09 PM ^

They're still vastly superior to college refs.

There has definitely been some shadyness over the years, but it's the same in every sport. Baseball had their issues with scandals. 

I think by and large the NBA refs let the guys play. 

The Lakers do get a lot of calls though, but if the NBA were truly rigged, the Spurs wouldn't have won as many championships as they have, and the '05 Finals never would have happened.