So here is part two of my article about the possible corruption in the NBA. DON'T read any of this until you read Part One.
What I was talking about earlier about the game three of the Bulls-Heat series, let's go back to that. That's what really pushed me over to the edge to write this article. The officiating was poor the entire night. Not every call favored the Heat. Shane Battier had some plays that were called blocking fouls that might have been charges. There were some bad calls on both sides. But overall, the calls were favoring the Heat. And that's something that has been going on for too long.
We all know LeBron is the best player playing right now. I would say Kobe's had a better career than he has, but in terms of skills right now, LeBron is the best player in the association. We all know that. He's also on the best team in the league. I've often complained about how ridiculous it is because the Heat are on a whole 'nother level in comparison to everybody else. They're going to win it all again this year. They're the best team and we know that. Which is why it angers me by the amount of calls they get in their favor.
In a very physical game, how does LeBron walk away with no fouls called on him? LeBron was involved in an altercation. As veteran Nazr Mohammed wraps up LeBron on a fast break to keep him from scoring and allowing the Bulls to reset their defense, LeBron grabs Mohammed and throws him down to the ground. This results in a technical foul. What is LeBron doing throwing down a guy that might be playing his last year in the league? Why is he throwing down a 35 year-old? Seconds later, Mohammed gets back on his feet and pushes LeBron over. Initially, this made me so happy. LeBron has reached a point where so many guys in the league follow him around and let him do whatever he wants. LeBron has gotten so many calls and no-calls in his favor. He thinks he can do whatever he wants. I was happy that someone finally stood up to the self-proclaimed "King James". But then Mohammed got ejected, a significant loss to a Bulls team that has been banged-up and missing guys due to sickness and injuries. So was this smart? I don't know. While it did put the Bulls down another member, it did stand up to "The King". Put in that situation, it's awfully hard not to react.
As I watched it, I wanted to believe that Mohammed actually did knock him to the ground, but it looked like LeBron flopped. You be the judge.
I'm not completely sure if an ejection was fair. LeBron threw him down and if he didn't flop, maybe Mohammed doesn't get ejected. Someone made a good point reminding us all of the Bulls game about a month ago, where Dwyane Wade blatantly shoved Richard Hamilton over and only got a flagrant foul for it.
I would like it if the officials and the league could show a little consistency for once. This was a different game, but still. I'm sick of the league backing the Heat and helping them in whatever way they can. Look at the calls they got throughout the playoffs last year. That Celtics series last year was absurd. As was last year's NBA Finals. I'm not saying they won everything because of that. But it frustrates me how much help they get! Check out this video. Some of it might be stretching it a little bit. The NBA has given up on calling traveling at this point. That's not something that I'm happy about, but it is the truth. Nevertheless, the following video is worth a view.
This isn't to say that this isn't the first time teams and players have gotten help. Players have been getting star treatment for years. Michael Jordan got the benefit of the doubt from officials. But I don't know if it has gotten this blatantly obvious before.
Going back a little bit to the Bulls game, guys were getting technicals left and right in the game before. Some weren't worth of T's. Some were. I'm glad that Taj Gibson didn't get a suspension after getting ejected. That would be ridiculous. But every time the Bulls started to get just a little bit of momentum, the refs would give a call over to the Heat that would kill all momentum. Gibson and Joakim Noah got themselves ejected in that game because they felt so insulted by the officials. It's not just the fact that we're going up against the best team in the league and they're getting all the help they can, but we're also ailing from injuries and illness. We're doing as much as we can, and to keep getting calls against us, and in a blowout of a game, it's insulting.
Game three had a lot of calls favoring the Bulls. Marco Belinelli fouled out, but as I was watching the game it only looked like he committed one or two of those six personal fouls. There's a YouTube video that takes a close look at all the tight calls from the game. For the most part I agree with a lot of what this guy is saying. There are a couple or a few plays that I don't agree with him on, most significantly the play where Joakim Noah had another foul assessed to him where they called him for holding Chris Anderson. But if you look closer, Birdman actually was holding Noah and wouldn't let his arm free, which is why Noah was so frustrated when the call was on him.
Some of those calls are atrocious. Again, how did LeBron not get any thing called his way in this game? How did LeBron have a streak of ten or so games going on earlier this season without a foul? All of this is getting old. He's getting too much help.
Of course, I'd be in no place to think anything was up unless I had some previous and inside knowledge hinting at it. Former official Tim Donaghy was put in prison for being involved with gambling. I'm not sure what his exact role in the situation was. I don't know if he was betting on games he was officiating, or getting paid off by bookies for calling games they wanted, but the fact that there was a corrupt official in the business, makes you wonder if there are others. One game that he officiated that stuck out was game three of the Spurs-Suns playoff series in 2007. At the time, this was becoming a bigger rivalry in the league and would produce very fun games to watch. The series was tied 1-1, playing in San Antonio. The calls in the game were completely egregious, heavily favoring the Spurs. Tim Donaghy was officiating this game.
In 2008, Donaghy filed a court document saying that the NBA has fixed games in the past. Specifically game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals. He said the league wanted a game seven, so that they would benefit from television ratings. I won't even explain that game. It brings up bad memories. Just watch the video.
Yeah. That happened. And a former NBA official said it was fixed. Maybe I wouldn't believe the guy considering he screwed with stuff in the NBA too. But based on all this fishy stuff, I value what he has to say.
The NBA has some serious problems nowadays. I can keep going on about other sketchy situations, but I guess there's no real reason to make this article go any longer than it needs to be. This is way longer than I thought I would be writing. Basketball used to be my favorite sport to follow, but at this point I'm just getting so sick of it all. My dad loves the Bulls so much. There have been games he hasn't watched because he just can't take it. The sad thing is, no matter what goes on, most of us are still going to keep watching. I can say that I'm going to boycott the NBA, but that just won't happen. We're all going to keep watching.
So why should you listen to what I have to say? Yeah, I'm only an 18 year-old kid. I'm just a fan like all of you guys. I've never had a job in journalism, much less the NBA. Am I biased? Maybe. But the thing is, I'm a concerned fan. And I'm saddened by what the league has become. Again, I don't want this to take anything away from anybody who has played and won. How come all the calls are in favor of the teams the media, most notably ESPN, hypes up to us? The only teams ESPN likes to talk about are the Heat and Lakers. The Lakers got a lot of help at the end of the year to get in to the playoffs. It's because that's what they're trying to sell us. They're trying to sell LeBron. They're desperate for that next dynasty. But again, the Heat are the best team in the league and they don't need help. Without help from officials, they'll still win a title this year. But I'm just so frustrated with what the league is becoming. I tried being as respectful as I could to start this blog, but the more I talked about it the more fired up I got. I have no idea what the reaction to this will be. I have no idea if anyone will even read it. But the fact of the matter is that I am concerned for the NBA. Hopefully things will start to look less sketchy once David Stern retires next February. But the guy who's taking over is Adam Silver, who has been under David Stern's wing for years. I have no idea how much hope there is for the future of the NBA. And right now I just have a very hard time taking it all seriously and I don't know how much credibility the NBA has anymore.
So yeah, that's about it. I never thought this blog would be over 3,500 words. That's why I separated it in to two. So I really want to hear your thoughts. What do you think about the NBA and the officiating? And the draft lottery? Whatever you think, comment below, or let me hear your thoughts on the Facebook fan page or on Twitter @vellvita7. Thanks for reading and have a good day!
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