[Cactus Jack]

Imagine that a game 7, rigged.

Imagine that, another ridiculous, misinformed post. If you believe that a tip in with 00:00:00.1 seconds left on the game clock was rigged, then there is no hope for you. That dog won't hunt, even if you are trying to troll.

If you want to make the case that the NBA games were rigged to protect players like Jordan back in the 80's and 90s, then I would agree with you. Separate rules for "stars" and regular players were common back then. The referees are much better in Adam Silver's NBA.

What I am growing to appreciate about the current NBA is that most of the players on most teams will be back next season.

I think both can be true, as weird as that sounds.

I think the NBA superstars & certain teams getting breaks that others don't is true-- I don't know that there's any doubt about that. I'm unsure that this isn't also the case at the NCAA and high school levels as well though.

You will never convince me that Yao Ming wasn't going to be drafted by a city with a large Asian population, that it was coincidence that a team owned by the NBA that was up for sale was able to snag Anthony Davis, or that San Antonio ended up with the inside track for Victor Wembanyama.

I also have a hard time believing that San Antonio's air conditioning went out in the opening game of the 2014 NBA Finals or that Denver's shot clock issues couldn't be fixed prior to Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals this season.

I think that the most damning evidence for games being rigged is the fact that Tim Donaghy served federal time for fixing games, including the notorious playoff game between the Kings and Lakers where the disparity in calls was obvious to even casual observers. In this instance, it wasn't the NBA that rigged the games per se, but you have to think that they become aware of what was going on at some point.

I don't think that the league does anything to get in their own way when it comes to making money-- if that means a more competitive series or a storybook ending, I think we'd all agree that they don't mind, the only question is how far they'd go to ensure that it has a better chance of happening or the kind of punishment that they'd dole out when a team seeks out an unfair advantage.