Zebras vs. Wolves
There may be a little something to the claim that the NBA fixes their games after all. After deplorable officiating in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals last year led some–including Ralph Nader and The Sports Guy (scroll down)–to believe that the league convinced its refs to help the Lakers beat the Kings, more questionable calls in last night’s Timberwolves 114-110 victory over the Lakers made people wonder if the National Basketball Association shouldn’t just rename itself the LBA (Lakers Basketball Association). As The Sports Guy pointed out, every time the NBA needed a big-market (ergo, big TV ratings) team to win over the last four years, the refs have seemingly been doing their best to help that team along. Commissioner Stern admitted that the refs made some egregious mistakes last night–two huge calls against Wally Sczerbiak and one that sent Kevin Garnett on the bench for almost all of overtime–but is he really disagreeing with his own secret agents, or is he trying to throw conspiracy theorists off the trail? There’s a reason last night’s game started so late…and it just might be that the NBA didn’t want half the country to watch its slimy little plan unfold.