A Series On Equal Opportunity Conspiracy Theorizing: Part I

Introduction, if you missed it

Playing right into their hands...

Read TrueHoop, Bill Simmons, Basketbawful, or any number of less popular columns or blogs about the NBA and it is easy to determine the hypothesis of of most NBA conspiracy theories.  It all starts with the league pushing its supposed agenda and doing it in numerous ways, often involving the officiating.

Why does it start there?

I suppose it is a pretty easy connection to make.  The league has a vested interest in its own success, which depends on viewers and fans, and it pays the referees', who have no interest invested in anything but their own lives, but an incalculable effect on the games.

Right there is pretty much a classic formula for a conspiracy theory.  We, the fans, are a large group loyal to something that somebody else controls. 

The people that control it need us, so they need to make us happy.  How do they make us happy?  They give us what we want—drama, excitement, stars, heroes, villains, etc.

But the fans also want an authentic experience—translates into we want to think we are getting one—so the NBA uses referees.  They're the equivalent of government spooks because they aren't famous like the the players; to casual fans, they don't have names and faces.  The NBA doesn't have to sell their images, they're the perfect scapegoats, or so they thought.

Here are some classic conspiracy theory examples:

• In the NBA's first ever draft lottery, David Stern either froze or bent the envelope belonging to the NY Knicks, so that he could pick it, thereby giving the leagues biggest market the first pick, which would subsequently become the rights to the countries most popular collegiate basketball player, Patrick Ewing.
• Referees gave Michael Jordan all the calls in order to push his fame and make the league money.
• When Michael Jordan retired for the first time in 1993, he was actually complying with a mandate from David Stern that he take a voluntary two-year hiatus to deal with his gambling problem, so that the league would not have to discipline him officially and taint his name, the league's most valuable asset.
• Referees again gave Michael Jordan all the calls when he came out of retirement en route to three more titles.  Most people point to his famous push off on Byron Russel on his final game-winning shot in the 1998 Finals Game 6 against Utah.
• The NBA instructed referees to officiate Game 6 of the 2002 WCF in favor of the Shaq-Kobe Lakers to ensure they would beat the Sacramento Kings, and the league would have its most popular draw for at least four more games.  The Lakers shot 27 free-throws in the fourth quarter.  Tim Donaghy of NBA referee scandal fame claims the crew was instructed to do so.
• This blog piece, puts a lot of focus on the 2006 Finals between Dallas and Miami.  In an nutshell, it claims the league pushed both teams into the finals because they were most popular, and when it saw Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O' Neal were generating more fans and viewership, the league instructed the referees to officiate in favor of a long series.  Miami came back from a 2-0 deficit, down by 13 in the final five minutes of Game 3, to win in six games.
• The league hates the Phoenix Suns and that is the reason for all the suspicious calls and suspensions throughout their three-year run near the top.  Just thought I'd toss that one out there since I live in Phoenix.

On the surface, it seems to all add up to what we've suspected all along, right?

That's what they want you to think, and they want your thinking to stop right there. 

Not today, though, bare with me as I break it down in: Part Deux: It's that easy?  Really?