Denver-Orlando vs. David Stern

Many argue that these NBA Playoffs have been overshadowed by bogus calls and poor officiating.

It's not easy to prove anything, however, especially after recent officiating scandals.

However, it is definitely easy to find out who gives these referees their paychecks.

Ladies and Gentlemen, without further rambling, I'm pleased to introduce you to David Stern. I know what some of you all may be thinking, and no—he isn't a midget (as far as I know).

Now let me tell you right now, I do not believe that David Stern would actually pay off officials for calls. However, I raise the question, especially in these hard times—would he demote or give certain refs pay decreases for calls that would ultimately cost him money when the Finals come around?

We all know who he wants in the Finals. Every single NBA associated website can tell you just from its front page. Even the official NBA.com already suggests what is to come in a few weeks. I bet you already know which two teams I am referring to.

LeBron vs. Kobe. The Newcomers aka Cavs vs. the Aging Dynasty aka Lakers.

I mean, why wouldn't Mr. Stern want this. Imagine all of the income he can gain from this matchup. Just picture what the little man would do if, let's say, Denver and Orlando actually advanced and met in the Finals. I bet he would do anything in his power ($) to make sure that the people's (investors) demands are met!

I may be one of few that would probably skip this year's Finals if the Lakers and the Cavs both advanced past their Conference Finals. Especially the Lakers—who Mr. Stern needs almost as much as the Cavs to make the Finals—since they have easily been the most lackluster and lazy team so far.

They got by Utah and Houston with some extra, unneeded effort. And now in the Conference Finals they have been outhustled both games by Denver. Both Denver and L.A. know that Denver should be up 2-0 going into Denver.

However despite the Lakers' shortcomings so far, why are the still the favorite to take the West? Phil Jackson acts as if he knows for a fact that his team will advance to the Finals! Either that or he is too messed up on Xanax to care this his team is getting outmanned by Melo and Company.

I don't know about you, but I kinda feel like I walked into a sushi restaurant.

Now let's go over to the East, shall we? The Almighty Cleveland Cavs are down 1-0 to the Orlando Magic. The first game was filled with strange and peculiar calls, such as Howard's "last" foul. The Magic not only beat the Cleveland Cavs, they also beat Mr. Stern and the refs to be totally honest.

LeBron James was scorching the whole game! Actually, mostly when Howard was on the bench with foul trouble.

So it's the last few seconds of the game, Cleveland is down by only a few. LeBron decides to actually contest Howard. Howard, who won Defensive Player of the League, did not move an inch as LeBron drove into him. Defensive foul! Howard just laughs, not only because the call was ridiculous, but because he knows his team is playing against two different teams.

Ultimately, however, to add some excitement to the already "known" the Magic won. Yeah, I bet you are saying that Lewis hit a legit three-pointer in the waning seconds. Damn right he did!

But it was the final play that startled me the most. Cleveland was only down by one point, with LeBron playing a hell of a game and Howard fouled out. So James decides he doesn't want to win the game and passes it away. The rest is history!

Now I know what most of you guys are going to say. "This is a piece of crap," or "David Stern is legit," or "the Refs wouldn't do that."

I know I do not have proof that they are scamming the games to add more entertainment value for the grand Finale between LeBron and Kobe. However, raising the question, especially after all of these so called "calls" and advertisements that point toward the inevitable between the MVP and the best player, is all that I can offer.