Is the NBA both a rigged league and about to have Oklahoma and Indiana play in the NBA finals?

[C3H6N6O6]

If league wanted to rig then 2 games between Minnesota and LA were close enough that 2-3 bad calls would have swung the series in Lakers favor.
This would have resulted in Warriors vs Lakers in second round which would have been a ratings bonanza for the NBA.

If league wanted to make SGA a star then him beating Warriors(if Curry was healthy) or Lakers(with LeBron and Luka) in the WCF would have attracted a lot more attention.

[Free Rider]

in addition to what everyone else said, making sga a star is the nba's biggest priority, so yes they want okc in the finals

You think making SGA a star is the NBA biggest priority? It’s not like OKC is some scrappy underdog that unexpectedly made its way to the Finals. They’ve been the best team in the league all year.

[jkvonny]

in addition to what everyone else said, making sga a star is the nba's biggest priority, so yes they want okc in the finals

OKC is one of the smallest markets in the league.
Same with Milwaukee (Giannis).

[stepic]

The league is obviously not rigged lol

No idea why half you lot even watch sports if you think it’s rigged. Delusional

[MrGoat]

Market size isn't everything, this is such a simplistic strawman. Oklahoma has all of those Native American casinos and let's not pretend like the NBA hasn't been snuggling up to the sports betting industry, if they can't get a team in Vegas (which would also be a small market) then OKC is the next best thing. The only thing that would surprise me would be if OKC doesn't win it all

[Optms]

Imagine having 2 of the smallest markets in the Finals and still believing the playoffs are rigged.

The draft though, way too much evidence. No defending all 3 teams with the highest odds dropping down. That is so statistically improbable, its absurd to think it wasn't. Especially with Dallas getting the pick.

[manlisten]

People who think the NBA is rigged are worse than people who think the Royal Rumble is rigged. You're telling me 30 different entities conspire for the benefit of the organization as a whole? And nothing leaks out? Please. What does Sheamus stand to gain from doing that?

[cgf]

No. After rigging things so the Knicks come back from multiple 20pt deficits, they’re gunna have the Knicks come back from 1-3 series deficit before winning a ring.

[Khaled1987]

I don’t believe the league is rigged and I think a lot of bitching about the draft is fans trying to cope with the outcome of their teams losing out on the next great draft prospect. That said the league rigging the draft and a OKC/IND Finals aren’t mutually exclusive concepts. You can argue that the NBA puts its thumb on the scale for the draft and the two best teams in the league are in the Finals. One doesn’t necessarily preclude the other.

This.

The "rigged" argument isn't about the NBA having a script that teams follow, it is a little push they give to some teams here and there

[stepic]

I don’t believe the league is rigged and I think a lot of bitching about the draft is fans trying to cope with the outcome of their teams losing out on the next great draft prospect. That said the league rigging the draft and a OKC/IND Finals aren’t mutually exclusive concepts. You can argue that the NBA puts its thumb on the scale for the draft and the two best teams in the league are in the Finals. One doesn’t necessarily preclude the other.

This.

The "rigged" argument isn't about the NBA having a script that teams follow, it is a little push they give to some teams here and there

Still waiting for a little push for the bulls. We’ve had nothing since 2008

[FreeBird23]

Anywhere in the world where there's big money at stake, there's corruption. The NBA is no exception.
But to think that it can choose the two teams that go to the Finals is nearly impossible.

[mariller]

The league is obviously not rigged lol

No idea why half you lot even watch sports if you think it’s rigged. Delusional

When something that has 1% chance of happening, happens - it's luck or chance,

but

if something that has 1% chance of happening happens when everyone says that they expect it to happen due to this set of circumstance it's 99% a set-up.
I really don't understand how anyone can dispute that.

[stepic]

The league is obviously not rigged lol

No idea why half you lot even watch sports if you think it’s rigged. Delusional

When something that has 1% chance of happening, happens - it's luck or chance,

but

if something that has 1% chance of happening happens when everyone says that they expect it to happen due to this set of circumstance it's 99% a set-up.
I really don't understand how anyone can dispute that.

99% of people predicted Mavs to get the first pick? Evidence of that please.

[maxpower8888]

If the league is rigged, why did Shai dribble left instead of dribbling to his right at 6:16 in the 2nd quarter? I'm reading the script and that definitely wasn't supposed to happen.

[Sane]

Stop being silly, they don't have to and can't rig every single thing.

Dallas owner mysteriously told their GM to trade a top 5 player for peanuts and then landed the #1 pick. Please stop acting like that's not worth being suspicious about.

[pwayknicks]

If you don’t think the draft lottery is rigged after seeing Cavs win #1 pick after LeBron left their team, then Pelicans winning #1 pick after AD left their team and now Mavs winning it after Luka left their team, then I’m sorry but you’re extremely naive and possibly foolish.

If the Bucks lose Giannis this summer and if they get a lottery pick in next year’s draft, I’m going to take a second mortgage out and bet that on the Bucks winning the lottery. It may become the easiest $$ I’ve made in my life.

When did lottery rigging begin ? When LeBron left or before ?

How about when Shaq left Orlando. Or Barkley left the suns. Durant leaving Brooklyn? Or he’s to small but Davis is important enough ? Leonard left Toronto after winning a chip, raptors got what ? Save yourself the money or don’t and let me laugh at you when you take such a stupid bet.


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[ChumboChappati]

After the Luka and #1 draft pick situation, every other fan was saying the NBA rigs things to benefit the league. If that’s the case, you’d probably wager they’d prefer the Knicks or a team with a major superstar, rather than two small market, middle-America teams playing in their ultimate showcase.

why do you think there are only 2 scenarios: 0 (means no rigging at all) and 10 (means rigging all the time)? there are lot of numbers in between 0 and 10. By default NBA does not rig; but in some special cases, it does like the Luka situation where Mavs were compensated later by getting the #1 draft pick. This is not a new thing; it has happened before and will continue to happen as long as fans does not unite and campaign against this practice and demand NBA to be totally fair.

[Ice Man]

No team from the 3 largest markets -- 5 teams in total, or 1/6th of the league -- has had a #1 overall pick in 17 years, and the Finals over that same stretch have been dominated by small/mid market teams, but nevertheless conspiracy theorists claim that the league is rigged to help the big markets.

If there is rigging, it seems to exist to help the little teams.

[Ice Man]

Still waiting for a little push for the bulls. We’ve had nothing since 2008

And we lose every flipping coin flip. Lost the flip for Magic in '79, lost the flip for the Kings pick that ended up being the #2 selection in 2018, lost the flip for the Mavs' pick that will end up being Cooper Flagg in 2025.

If the league really wanted to help its ratings, they would have put Cooper in a Bulls uniform rather than banishing him to Dallas. Cooper/Bulls would be an instant and massive draw.

[cgf]

I don’t believe the league is rigged and I think a lot of bitching about the draft is fans trying to cope with the outcome of their teams losing out on the next great draft prospect. That said the league rigging the draft and a OKC/IND Finals aren’t mutually exclusive concepts. You can argue that the NBA puts its thumb on the scale for the draft and the two best teams in the league are in the Finals. One doesn’t necessarily preclude the other.

This.

The "rigged" argument isn't about the NBA having a script that teams follow, it is a little push they give to some teams here and there

Still waiting for a little push for the bulls. We’ve had nothing since 2008

If I was gunna fix the draft, I definitely wouldn’t want my biggest market to move up in my life time, nevermind giving them the #1 pick…