Say what you want about conspiracies, but at some point a Scotus justice, even if sold out to the dark side, wants to be among the top dogs. And if Obama threatens to make them a byword, then they’ll kick back.
Even demons appear to have pecking orders.
If the Supreme Court upholds the mandate they will be surrendering all their constitutional authority to the Executive and Congress. There would be no constitutional limit to any act of congress that could in any way be linked to commerce.
I would think that the liberals on the court would be concerned about the kinds of mandates that a "Right Wing" majority and President could foster on the nation.
The mandate is not only a power grab to take power from the people, but also to strip the Supreme Court of its oversight responsibility.