Was the 2002 WCF really fixed?

[Braincells]

Even if game 6 was fixed as people are saying, the Kings had the opportunity to make it up in game 7 at home. Instead, they not only missed their free throws but air balled numerous shots. I thought it was the ultimate choke job for a team that talented. They gave that game to the Lakers, who then went on to three peat.

[Kukoc]

Well, we will never now.

BUT that was the worst series ever.

All the BS calls. If any game or series in the NBA was ever fixed, it sure was that.

[Spurs5Rings2014]

2000 Blazers?

[Prime_Shaq]

Game 5 was rigged for the Kings.
Game 6 for the Lakers.

[LAZERUSS]

Game five was every bit as "fixed" in favor of the Kings, as game six was in favor the Lakers. All you need to know about game five...in a series in which Shaq averaged 11 FTAs in the other five games...he attempted exactly ONE FT in game five....in a 92-91 loss.

[iTare]

if it wasnt then...god damn.

that's how bad it was officiated, i'd be more surprised if it wasnt lol

[Ne 1]

It's just funny how Game 6 gets all the controversy when Game 5 was arguay worse favoring the Kings.

[Droid101]

Check game 5 then come talk to us.

It was "fixed" to go to 7 games. Kings ****ed it up, period.

[Ne 1]

People complain about free throws, but who on Sacramento played anywhere near as physical as Shaq or got to the line nearly as much? Who attacked the basket as much as Kobe on the Kings? Nobody. Webber settled for a lot jump shots for a power forward and Bibby and Peja both did a lot of their damage on jumpers while Divac was a finesse player.

In the series, Shaq averaged 9.9 FTA per game and played 41.1 mpg. Kobe averaged 7 FTA per game in the series and played 43.9 mpg. During the season, Shaq averaged 10.7 FTA in 36.1 mpg and Kobe averaged 7.4 FTA in 38.3 mpg.

Hmm that's odd, so the series was rigged for the Lakers yet Shaq and Kobe attempted less free throws than usual despite a significant increase in minutes?

The Lakers averaged 26.1 FTA during the regular season, and that would be higher with Shaq playing 82 games instead of 67. The Kings averaged 26.3, but usually played at a much faster pace than the Lakers, and of course that becomes equal with both teams playing each other.

The Lakers averaged 26.4 FTA, which is right around their average(and probably lower than their average when Shaq played). The Kings averaged 29.1 FTA, easily topping their season average, and the biggest free throw disparity was not in game 6, but actually in game 3 when the Kings attempted 20 more free throws than the Lakers.

Alright, so the series was rigged in the Lakers favor, yet there was a game on the Lakers homecourt when the Kings had 20 more free attempts than they did? And the Kings attempted significantly more free throws than the Lakers in the series?

The only evidence people even have that the game was somehow "fixed" is that the Lakers took 40 free throws to 25 for the Kings.

That's true, but let's extract the six that came from intentional fouls so it's now 34 to 25. And having watched this game all the way through twice with many plays reviewed over and over, there was a clear difference in aggressiveness between the two teams. The Lakers were incessantly taking the ball into the paint and to the basket, while the Kings took more outside shots. That's not to say there weren't some bad calls but the free throw discrepancy doesn't surprise me.

[imnew09]

Just bunch of bitter and salty a$$ nigguhs



Nothing was as rig as Wade's 2006, Durant's OKC, Lebeta 2012 Final

[iTare]

Just bunch of bitter and salty a$$ nigguhs



Nothing was as rig as Wade's 2006, Durant's OKC, Lebeta 2012 Final
Wow, so much substance in this post.
:facepalm

[gts]

It's just funny how Game 6 gets all the controversy when Game 5 was arguay worse favoring the Kings.

That's because Lakers fans know bad reffing happens, we bitch about the calls and move on...

Laker haters on the other hand look for any reason no matter how idiotic it is to hate on the Lakers so if they win a game with bad calls it can't possibly be bad calls or that the Kings choked... it's fixed :lol

btw funny this thread is from a guy named braincells... has more in his screen name than in his head

[TheBigVeto]

Yes it was, courtesy of David Stern.

[Euroleague]

NBA office employees detected....

[sd3035]

OKC got jobbed worse in the Miami finals series

Warriors overcame a worse rigging this year in the finals

Bulls got screwed worse this year vs the Cavs

[Hey Yo]

Shows how Sactown got shafted. Watch parts 6 and 7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxTjOPImyts

[Ne 1]

Shows how Sactown got shafted. Watch parts 6 and 7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxTjOPImyts
A sensationalist video with dramatic music cuts and misleading editing/interpretations of fouls doesn't prove anything. This video is clearly biased and edited. How about actually watching the game in a normal setting?

[Hey Yo]

A sensationalist video with dramatic music cuts and misleading editing/interpretations of fouls doesn't prove anything. This video is clearly biased and edited. How about actually watching the game in a normal setting?
So you're saying none of those fouls were questionable, Shaq's foot crossing the line before ball making contact, obvious flagrant on Funderburke was all due to editing and bias??

[Droid101]

So you're saying none of those fouls were questionable, Shaq's foot crossing the line before ball making contact, obvious flagrant on Funderburke was all due to editing and bias??
Where's the video about game 5?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

[Hey Yo]

Where's the video about game 5?

Yeah, that's what I thought.
Why you asking me, ya dope. I didn't make the video's.

Log on YT and ask the dude who made them.

[Real14]

OKC got jobbed worse in the Miami finals series


I agree.

[Rocketswin2013]

Kobe was so ass in those playoffs.

[Velocirap31]

Game 6 was far worse than game 5 in terms of ref favoritism. The Kings would have won game 6 though if the refs didn't screw them over hard, thus won the series and later the championship.

[Ne 1]

So you're saying none of those fouls were questionable, Shaq's foot crossing the line before ball making contact, obvious flagrant on Funderburke was all due to editing and bias??

There were several calls that went in the Lakers' favor, but the majority were not blatant enough to label the game anything beyond poor officiating. Missed/bad calls happen in every single game. I didn't see anything that suggested the game was rigged beforehand to ensure a Laker win.

Do you honestly really believe there was some grand conspiracy by the league to fix the outcome of a playoff game? That's ridiculous. Refs are human and they make mistakes and they are going to miss things. The players make mistakes, the coaches make mistakes, and the refs are going to make them. The loss in revenue/tv ratings from not getting the ideal teams in the Finals or pushing the series to 7 games is far lower than the losses there would be if there was even a hint of the league and David Stern were fixing series. You tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorists seem to think rigging games are a no-risk, maximum reward ploy, when in reality loads of people could go to prison and have their lives ruined.

Now keep in mind that:

1. The home team generally gets the benefit of the doubt in 50/50 situations

2. Referees do not have the benefit of replay, and pay attention to which specific referee calls each foul - they view the play from different angles.

3. Commentators see the same replays we do, so their opinion has no more authority than anyone else watching the same thing.

4. This is prime Shaq, arguably the most difficult player to officiate

[sd3035]

1. The home team generally gets the benefit of the doubt in 50/50 situations



That's usually the case, but the Cavs bucked that trend this year with road cooking

[Ne 1]

Breakdown of every 4th quarter call:


Foul #1 Pollard moving screen

-Tough call. Pollard moved to set the screen kind of late and the ref could have thought his feet were not set by the time George made contact. A replay would be needed to see it more clearly, but I would've let that play go.


Foul #2 Pollard undercut foul against Shaq

-Understandable why so many people think this is a bad call because he's straight up and the replay doesn't show Pollard's lower body, but he clearly undercuts Shaq as he goes up for the shot. As a defender, you cannot move into a shooter's position when he is in the air. Look where Shaq's feet are when he goes up, and look at where Pollard's feet end up after the shot.


Foul #3 Webber fastbreak foul against George

-Clear foul


Foul #4 George foul against Peja

-Clear foul


Foul #5 Vlade foul against Shaq

-Vlade invades Shaq's space on the initial fake and then gets him on the forearm on the shot attempt


Foul #6 Offensive foul by Shaq

-Reasonable call. A bit of acting by Webber but Shaq gets him with the elbow/hip on his spin


Foul #7 Clear path foul on Jackson

-Clear foul


Foul #8 Funderburke illegal post D

-Post defenders cannot use both arms. Ref had a better angle of it on the other side. The Kings are now in the penalty for the rest of the quarter



Foul #9 Reach in by Horry

- Good call


Foul #10 Foul by Horry against Divac

- Clear foul


Foul #11 Foul by Webber on Shaq

- Webber gets Shaq on the head. You could also argue Vlade's arms weren't straight up and Shaq hit them on his way up.


Foul #12 Webber charge against Horry

- Tough call. From the broadcast angle (and the angle of the ref) it looks like he uses his forearm, but the replay from the side shows he just gives him a shoulder shrug.


Foul #13 Foul by Vlade against Horry

- Clear foul, Vlade lands on top of Horry. Could've also called a foul on Webber for the reach as well.


Foul #14 Kobe reach on Bibby

- Clear foul


Foul #15 Foul by Funderburke on Shaq

- Foul on the post entry, holding with the left arm and reaching over with the right.


Foul #16 Foul by Shaq on Funderburke

-Could've been a flagrant


Foul #17 Foul by Christie on Kobe

- Tough call. It looks like contact live, but the replay shows Christie was riding Kobe and went straight up on the shot attempt. I'm not sure if it's considered a foul because he was into Kobe's body as he went up for the shot. It's not clear enough to me, so I probably would've let that go.


Foul #18 Loose ball foul by Funderburke

- Clear foul


Foul #19 Foul by Fisher on Bibby

- Fisher reaches and grabs Bibbys shooting arm right before he goes up


Foul #20 Foul by Turkoglu on Fox

- Turk gets him on his shooting arm/shoulder


Foul #21 Blocking foul by Fox

- No replay so it's hard to tell if Fox had position. But it looks like their feet get tangled up, so it's a reasonable call.


Foul #22 - Intentional foul by Jackson


- Elbow by Kobe on Bibby

This is probably the most controversial "missed foul" of this game. But let's put it into context. Bibby actually fouled Kobe first. Look closely. Bibby has his arms around Kobe's waist, holding him down. Kobe was just trying to get free and winds up elbowing him.


Foul #23 -Intentional foul by Christie

Foul #24 - Intentional foul by Turkoglu


So the only BLATANT missed call or bad call is the Kobe elbow, where Bibby a actually fouled Kobe first. There are a few of other missed/bad calls, but they were not nearly as clear cut. Basically after watching the game live back in 2002 and watching it two more times from start to finish on video since then, I didn't see anything that led me to believe the refs or David Stern had an agenda to make sure the Lakers won this game going into it.

[Springsteen]

https://northeastcollegehoops.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/kobe-bryant-game-6-2002.jpg

[Rose'sACL]

You are asking this on a forum where majority of the posters are lakers fans.

[Bankaii]

It's was rigged. Only Lakers fans say otherwise.

[BBallZen83]

OKC got jobbed worse in the Miami finals series

Warriors overcame a worse rigging this year in the finals

Bulls got screwed worse this year vs the Cavs

God... I hate name calling... but you're an idiot. So three series were all more rigged than a series almost universally regarded as one of the most horribly officiated series of all time. Hmmm.... and why are those three series more rigged... oh right. Cause Lebron played in them. What a troll.

[Droid101]

It's was rigged. Only Lakers fans say otherwise.
It was rigged to reach seven games. Game 5 was rigged worse than game 6.

[Bankaii]

It was rigged to reach seven games. Game 5 was rigged worse than game 6.
If it was Lebron instead of Kobe, would you still be telling the same narrative? Be honest.

[Ne 1]

It was rigged to reach seven games. Game 5 was rigged worse than game 6.
People bitch about free throws but look at the free throw disparity in Game 3.

[Droid101]

If it was Lebron instead of Kobe, would you still be telling the same narrative? Be honest.
Uh... yes, because it's obvious what happened? Both teams got jobbed hard, then they let them play fair in game 7 and the best team won.