the NBA, fairly or not, has a bit of a reputation for manufacturing preferred outcomes in the playoffs. We're at an especially black-and-white time for the nba: a great-rated Celtics Lakers finals, the cap to one of the best seasons in recent memory, interrupted by old allegations of game-fixing, brought to the surface by disgraced ex-ref Tim Donaghy. Even if Donaghy's just lying and fanning some flames, the league is unfortunately vulnerable to this criticism because, well, a lot of key games have shown some heavy foul discrepancies in recent years.
In yesterday's Game Five, with Boston leading the series 3-1 and L.A. leading the game by about 12 points, Boston went on a run- helped along the way by a whole lot of foul calls- to tie the game.
Conspiracy theorists usually assign two motives to suspect NBA referees- either keeping a game close or keeping a series close.
That's what makes the LA-BOS game five interesting. When a lot of fouls are called in the fourth quarter, the refs make the individual game close- exciting!- at the risk of letting the celtics win and finishing off a highly-rated finals in just five games- not so great!
And of course, allegations of nba ref-cheating usually involve one marquee team getting a fair advantage over a less glamorous team. But here we've got the two bluest-blooded franchises in the whole sport.
So this leaves an interesting question. If we go ahead and pretend, for curiosity's sake, that all of the ref-manipulation stories are true, and the league Does enforce their secret preferences for the outcome of the games… who do they want to win this series? Who's the stronger story- Boston's Big Three and their vintage march to the 17th banner, or the Hollywood glow of the Lakers and their perpetually almost-beJordaned MVP?
Celtics, Lakers. If David Stern gets to choose, who wins the trophy?
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