From Spygate, to steroid abuse, to crooked NBA referees, the work of The Asterisk is not complete until all sports conspiracies are exposed. Tackling the accusations of former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, with regard to an unspoken policy of preferential treatment to fix the outcome of NBA playoff games, is next on our agenda. The NBA is a business, the NBA is sports entertainment, but is the NBA fixed? Assume for a moment that you favor a Polly Anna, rose-colored treatment of professional basketball, you believe that the game is pure, that athletes are not on performance enhancers, that NBA referees follow the letter of the law when it comes to calling fouls and exercise their authority consistently. Well we’d all be lying to ourselves wouldn’t we. It’s no secret that NBA officiating traditionally favors its stars (Jordan rules, anyone?). I’m sure what was said in recent weeks shocks very few fans of the NBA. For us realists, those grounded on a planet we call earth, there’s a lot more to the words of Tim Donaghy than the accusations of a desperate man latching onto his fifteen minutes of fame. Call me crazy, but based on what I’ve seen in a playoff series that delivered on the marquee Lakers vs. Celtic matchup, I’m not so sure these accusations are baseless. Maybe there is an Illumianti-led underground stronghold of powerful decision-makers guiding the balance of power among the 30 franchises of the NBA. I would call them the Almighty Dollar.

The fact of the matter is that no other professional sport is more at the mercy of the will of their officiating crew than the National Basketball Association. Ask yourself, in what other sport are penalties or fouls more devastating to the outcome of a game or the playing time of its star athletes than in professional basketball? In how many other sports can the outcome of the game be determined by a single player? After six fouls (all subjectively levied by the judgment call of an official), the player is done for the night. That’s a lot of power wielded by an individual that can call the foul as he sees it without challenge. How many times have you seen two quick fouls on a star player that send him to the bench, allowing the other team to build an insurmountable lead? How many times during this year’s playoffs did we see a seven game series? How many times were free throws wildly unbalanced in favor of the home team? How many times were 20 point leads whittled away to nothing? Is there a conspiracy headed by commissioner David Stern to skew playoffs results in favor of maximizing revenue, increasing profits, or globalizing the game to new levels of popularity? You tell me….

 

Tin Foil Audio Vault
Short Clips From "The Herd"

Our Inspiration
May 14, 2008  2min 20sec

Colin Likes the Site
May 20, 2008  2min 56sec

Tim Donaghy
July 22, 2008  2min 08sec

Tim Donaghy, Pt.2
July 22, 2008  52sec

Alien Conspiracy
July 24, 2008  2min 38sec

Donaghy Resurfaces
July 29, 2008  1min 30sec

Donaghy Recap
July 29, 2008  1min 30sec

On the other hand, look at the NBA. The NBA has every reason in the world to fix games, expand their global market, and extend a playoff series. Each additional game played means the NBA pockets more loot. Every opportunity it has to bring national exposure to their young superstars is money in the bank. Since the the Jordan era, the NBA has been desperate to pass the torch to thier next great superstar, but they've been unable to find one. Kobe had the Boulder, Colorado incident, LeBron James is in the wrong market, Dwayne Wade is stuck on a bad team, Tracey McGrady never got it going, Allen Iverson's appearance is too ethnic, Tim Duncan is not well liked outside of San Antonio ... and we have to sit through being force fed NBA marketing garbage. The NBA is so transparent ... the fix is definitely in.

So after the Mavs posted two wins on the Heat at home, it was decided that the wrong team was winning the series. The league office took it upon themselves to swing the balance of power back in favor of the Wade-led Heat and they did it through NBA officials. Look at the series, the Heat averaged nearly 9 more free throw attempts per game over the six game series. The Heat rattled off four in a row and were gift-wrapped an NBA championship courtesy of Commissioner David Stern. Need more evidence? How many times have you seen the D-Wade / Charles Barkley T-Mobile commercials, D-Wade Gatorade commercials, or seen him talking about his momma in the Vitamin water commercials? Open your eyes. There are greater powers at work here.

 

The NBA playoffs have been a joke. Lakers vs. Jazz, the Lakers get 131 free throws to Utah's 74 in three games in Los Angeles. The Derek Fisher "no call" on Brent Barry. The home team winning every playoff game during Boston's run to the conference finals. If you don't think there's cold hard cash behind all of this, then you're not looking.
 

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