NBA Voodoo: David Stern Fixes the Playoffs

A Different Drummer ^ | 5 June 2002 | Nicholas Stix

[mrustow]

Article argues that NBA Commissioner David Stern wanted so much for the Los Angeles Lakers to extend their two-consecutive NBA championships to a "threepeat," that he fixed the Western Conference Finals against the Sacramento Kings.

[Diddle E. Squat]

But if the NBA/NBC/CFR was going to fix the series for the Lakers, and was going to fix it to get a game 7, how on earth would they have let the Kings win Game 4? Then all it would take would be for the Lakers to not show up at one game and presto, Kings in Finals. So if your theory of fixing is to have any merit, Game 4 would have been fixed for the Lakers. But instead it ended in a way that could never have been fixed. Thus your theory is disproven by Game 4, whether you want to discuss it or not.

[kellynla]

again...wrestling is not I repeat not a sport...the falls and hits are orchestrated.People get hurt running down the stairs...doesn't make it a sport. Comparing NBA basketball which is a legitimate sport which only 1% of college players can ever play and wrestling is a joke. Now you are off talking about stunt men...geeezzzz...people get hurt in all kinds of endeavors but that doesn't make it sport it makes it an occupational hazard...

[Night Hides Not]

Some teams have the talent, but, they don't have the heart.

Well said. I thought both teams showed great heart, but the Kings are still learning how to win. As a Dallas fan, that series showed me how far the Mavericks still have to go to truly compete at the level shown by the Lakers and Kings.

Now that Shaq has truly learned how to play AND WIN, Cuban's checkbook will never be able to overcome a healthy Shaq with a supporting cast of Kobe and a few others.

Since the thread is about conspiracies, does anyone seriously think that David Stern will allow a Mark Cuban-owned team to EVER make it to the NBA Finals?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

[BlackRazor]

Of course, the public is hypocritical on this as it is on so many things. The very people who say they're sick of seeing the same faces win year after year in the NBA are the same folks who stayed away in droves, and didn't watch, during the league's most democratic era - the 1970s, when talented if nondescript teams like Golden State, Washington, Portland, and Seattle won championships.

Frankly, I'm surprised to see such an asinine statment come from someone like David Aldridge, who should know better. Umm... hello, but the league's most democratic era was also its darkest era. The NBA was on the verge of folding in the 1970s. Attendance was terrible across the league. And you couldn't even watch the finals live on TV. They were tape delayed in the wee hours of the morning. This was not a fan-friendly product. To suggest that today's popular NBA can be reasonably compared to the floundering league of the '70's is downright ridiculous. It wasn't until Magic and Bird entered the league (and later Jordan) that the league entered its renaissance.

Unless of course, Aldridge is trying to make the point that the league has become popular precisely because of the fact that the same teams win year after year. But I sure don't buy that. Does anyone else?

[Sir Gawain]

Evidently you can't understand even my "limited vocabulary" enough to answer a simple question.

again...wrestling is not I repeat not a sport...the falls and hits are orchestrated.

No sh*t! I never said either of the above. Again, how do you fake a fall and the resulting pain from landing?

[cgk]

Bump for all the childish name-calling to be found in this thread. Great entertainment, to be sure.

Mrs Kus

[Sir Gawain]

Something must be getting lost in the translation. Now my posts are saying new things.

[FreeTally]

How exactly did the NBA 'fix' the ending of game 4? Remember, if Horry doesn't catch that last second slapped ball from a SACRAMENTO player AND then reflexively drain a clutch buzzerbeater, the Lakers would have been down 3-1,

Well, the replays clearly show that Somaki Walker's three-pointer before half time was after the buzzer. If it had correctly been waved off(probably wasn't because no one assumed the Lakers would come back), and the game played out the same way, the Kings won by 1 point.

[diamond6]

I think we still got this year's championship and two more in a row after this still left in the tank. Check back with us in the next couple of years.

[Sir Gawain]

and the game played out the same way

That's reaching though. Each event possible affects future events. The game would've been different most likely. If we only had a time machine to test the theory.

[GoreIsLove]

Criticize the refs, Go to jail.

[kellynla]

simple...I tell you that I am going to swing at you and you are going to fall...if you get hurt falling that is an occupational hazard...same as stuntmen/women. College wrestling is a sport. Professional wrestling is theatre. Have to go to work now...enjoy your fantasy world of professional wrestling.

[Sir Gawain]

simple...I tell you that I am going to swing at you and you are going to fall

The fall is orchestrated. The fall is not fake. There's a difference.

[okiecowgirl]

I agree with you. It scares me that the nets have to play in L.A. I guess we will see all the movie stars near the court. I will join you in your prayers. I just hope they don't hurt Jason Kid.

[diamond6]

If this and if that. The Walker 3 pointer was a mistake by the officials, but it was only one mistake. The Kings had a whole half and a 14 point lead to make up for that. The will to win and an unshakeable confidence is what wins championships in the face of any obstacle or adversity. Not whining. Are you going to respond to posts 106 and 115, or are you conveniently avoiding some undebatable topics?

[GoreIsLove]

...and anyone who disagrees is a Laker-hater!

But seriously, The Lakers need to consider sitting Shaq for a while at the beginning of next season. He takes more punishment than a middle linebacker. The difference between the Lakers with a one seed or eight seed is one of semantics.

[gubamyster]

Duncan's a center but that doesn't stop the Spurs from playing him at the four.

I've seen Vlade play. I've seen Duncan play. And let me say, Vlade is no Duncan.

Vlade couldn't make it as a Laker due to timing. He played during the single most disfunctional period of Laker history.

Don't you think part of the disfunction was due to Vlade?

And I would further argue that if Shaq were still in the East and Divac was still a Laker (with Kobe et al) they'd probably still win a title

The Lakers realized Vlade was not going to take them to the next level. Kareem spent a lot of time working with him & even tried to get Vlade to develop a hook shot. Mitch Kupchek and Magic worked with him on posting up. They sent Vlade to Pete Newell's Big Man camp. Nothing got Vlade to get over the hump.

Everybody in the NBA is good & most teams have at least 1 great player. Vlade is good, but not great - he is not at the next level.

The Lakers were looking to trade for Duncan or Robinson when they realized Vlade was not the man. They would have gotten rid of him one way or another & he would not have been a Laker today.

[Bikers4Bush]

Like a folding metal chair perhaps? heh heh

[kellynla]

Wrestling schools teach students not only how to fall but how not to get hurt doing it...but you keep believing. Enjoy your day.

[Sir Gawain]

Wrestling schools teach students not only how to fall but how not to get hurt doing it

I know all of this.