Why did the Blazers bother to play this game? The NBA should have just given the Lakers the W and skipped the game, and not pretend this was actually a competitive sporting event. If the game had been called evenly, Portland would have won by 10. The fact is, the NBA really wants the Lakers to make the playoffs. And as I've said before, this is why it doesn't matter if the Blazers ever make the finals again, if the NBA doesn't want them to win, they won't win. It's the same in all of sports. Does anyone still question whether or not NBA officials are corrupt?
I'd like to see each team pay half the refs salary each game, and they decide after the game how much to pay them based on their performance. I know this will never happen, because the league doesn't want fairness, they want to be able to manipulate the outcome. The owners all share the TV profits, so they're not going to buck the system. I mean come on....they even messed up with instant replay.
My favorite was when World Fucking Peace stole the ball with the Blazers up 2 and ended up with a three point play after taking 4 steps to lay it in.
Mine was when that guy caught his own airball. How do you miss that as an NBA ref? In the phoenix game we saw them miss a double dribble. The refs call all this shit when a star trips over their own two feet, then miss blatant stuff. But The worst has to be the 3...because you can't blame that on not seeing it.
This game felt like the Donaghy accusations against the rest of the NBA referees are legit. If it happened once, it could certainly happen again. Looks even worse on the league as they have a lot to gain by the Lakers making the playoffs.
Mine was when they overturned the out of bounds call on Batum. Obviously, the ball went off Batum - you could see that in real time - but he got hacked on the arm by Batum. That is the type of call that refs look at like this: they either call the foul, or let it go and give the ball to the team that deserves it. They chose the later, and it screwed us because it was in the last 2 minutes.
There's no way the NBA was gonna let them lose. Kobe said two days ago that they ARE making the playoffs. Plus, this is the first game after Jerry Buss's funeral. At home, against the Blazers? Automatic W.
It is well documented that certain players and teams are given preferential treatment. And it also well documented it is with the NBA's approval. It's Kobe. It's the Lakers. Pretty much end of story. To win in LA we have to outplay them by at least 12 or 15 points to get a victory. It's always been that way.
