Money talks. Always has. No specific idea if the refs favored the Lakers. By then I had tuned the NBA way out.
But it doesn’t have to be a playoff Game 6 for refs to blow their whistles in favor of a team. It’s a general mindset, imo, for refs in all sports to consciously favor the Big Name team.
And not just in team sports. “You gotta really beat the champ” in boxing. Or “Lendl’s ball didn’t really nick the line.”
Michael Jordan was allowed walking, palming and phantom foul calls for years.