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To those following the NBA Conference Finals.. have you noticed anything?

I’ve always believed that the NBA is still a business. More games = more money. So it makes sense that the league would benefit from extending a series as much as possible.

With that said, do you believe there’s some level of conspiracy between the league management and the referees to help one team get more favorable calls, just to make sure the series goes longer?

Curious to hear your thoughts.

I want to believe that there is but in my opinion NBA commissioner want to become as clean as possible to protect their reputation since NBA is the most prestigious league in the world for basketball.

Those speculations probably are due to our frustration towards the team we are backing. I have same speculation like this on Game 3 when refs stop making a foul call on SGA move that usually an easy call on normal game.  :D

I don't believe on this, personally I see it as something most people never thought of in this direction and knowing that it's being planned or rigged to a certain extent base on conspiracy could cause a lot of distrust in their judgement upon each game, also the gambling sites would be the ones falling a victim the most because gamblers will always predict right by their own choice or decisions than what could have been the outcome without any influence, so I do not believe.

In the world of business, nothing is ever truly clean especially when there’s a huge amount of money involved. The NBA’s reputation will always stand strong as long as things appear clean. However, even a single questionable call or non-call can completely change the outcome of a game.

Have you noticed how some players complain, and then just smile afterward? I get the feeling they already understand how the game works behind the scenes. And when they do speak out, they get hit with huge fines. That’s why you’ll never see it fully exposed.

But of course, these are just speculations... for now.


make sense....how about in game 4, do you have any?

its something harder at a certain point since you will have more people to involve. it's not just a match with player vs player but you have full teams and so on...
if only one player or member of the team decide to not agree the whole mechanism would just collapse.
There is always this risk I think in any sport. But it would be more harmful a scam and not running the business in honest way (thats already profitable..)

Whether we want to believe it or not, but we all know dirty game never stops existing. It can only be lessen or limited, but it will never completely vanish. Not just in basketball but even to some popular games that we often bet in gambling.

Reality is, if there’s a huge money offer, everything about greed will follow. And that made the responsible teams get deprived of having a clean game.

You think that for one or two matches that would bring little income compared to what they already have they would risk angering fans with fixed matches and losing even more viewership? Also, when you're getting paid that much money, throwing it away and facing repercussions for what? This thing only works at low levels where players and referees are getting paid peanuts, if you're in such a high-stakes match it's far more common to make mistakes because of the pressure on you rather than actually trying to influence the game.
You really think OKC threw the game like that or it was because if the referee they lost by nearly 40 points?

I believe there can be conspiracy but how often can they continue with it before they get noticed?

If something like this occurs in the NBA, it will only be once in a while. They would also need to be cautious to avoid getting caught and tarnishing the image of the game. The NBA is one of the highest-profile sports leagues in the world.

Based on how OKC play especially SGA. He will study his errors and adjust his game play accordingly. He knew that defender is maintaining safe distance now against his mid range shot and at the same time to the contact which he keeps getting for the foul call.

I believe game 4 will be a different story but still I consider it as a close match with leaning a bit on KYC because I’m not comfortable on refs call on Timberwolves.

It’s either they trying to prove they are not being use by SGA on foul baiting or they just really upgrade their foul call for a more fair game.

I agree with this. The attention this sort of big tournaments gets makes it such that it will be very difficult to fix matches without it getting noticed. The risk-reward ratio is also not worth it, left on its own a good number of those matches will stretch out and they will get more income from them.

No, I do not think they try to extend the series.

- Jay -

Could be. I don’t have any evidence to support your idea though. Do you have any evidence? Have you at least observed any patterns that support your view? If you can’t show us anything, your statement is a bit vague. Who knows what kind of deals are happening behind closed doors. Or maybe, nothing is happening and we are making things up. Unless you show us anything example, it doesn’t make much sense to speculate on it.

Every once in a while a few isolated cases happen though it is probably not part of a systematic fraud. Referees are human in the end. Sometimes they can’t control their emotions like any of us.

Maybe there are no conspiracies or anything fishy going on as you said, the teams that wins the game are just probably better than the other...in in NBA I don't really think this exists but there might be a possibility that it might but my own thought on this is that there are none of these going on..this is just my opinion though it doesn't mean I'm right..But do you have any clear evidence of these facts you stated.

Sure I don't think so, Many times, I have seen such accusations that football games are ringed, although that is possible, but most often than none is limited and none existent in big global league like the championship and premier league, this is because in those big league, there is so much eyes and attention on all the officiating teams so they can play any form of trick in whatever ways.

Thing with conspiracies is that they don't need anything other then the fact that there's something to be gained by fixing games. That's the only reason for people trying every possible way to go around the any oversight to make it happen.

But at the same time, when we talk about something like NBA, there are so many factors that affect the result, that more and more people need to be in that circle of secrets. And keeping secrets from oversight is hard even with small group of people.

Fixing games could happen with larger teams, but it's way more plausible with one on one matches in tennis, boxing or anything else.

That's just a conspiracy and we have no way to verify if that's what they do to prolong the series and to make more money from sales, from betting, advertisements and any other form of source of income for the league. While the competition is tough, this isn't coming to my mind and have always believed that they're just having their own momentum whenever they win. It's just a coincidence when we see longer games and possible that most of these ends up tie.

There are times that I also think the same, not just in the NBA but also in the basketball association here in our country. Others in our community think the same, since high school until now. We always say it will reach Game 7 because they want to make more profit. But sometimes, maybe we are just overthinking based on how they play every game, like, they had an excellent game yesterday, and then tomorrow, it sucks. And if we think about it, it’s not like there’s a team or a player who can be 100% consistent in their play.

There are lots of suspicions, especially for the referee's bad calls, prolonged games/matches especially on semis or finals and it's also true that the more games the more profit they get. But at the very least there are only few NBA finals that gets to game 7, the last one was on 2016 with Cavs and Warriors. But just like I said there are many suspicions but no hard proofs about this.

As you've said it is still a business so I'm not surprised if that conspricay will be true. There are just 10 teams or even less that keep repeating to fight until finals while there are a total of 30 teams. It's always teams like lakers, heat, maverick, celtics, warriors I hear playing. It sometimes make me think if the season is being planned ahead already like only a specific teams will reach the quarterfinals until finals.

Though I don't believe to the part that some referees are helping a specific team to climb the upper league. If that's the case then we can consider all sport to be rigged too.

I don't think such a conspiracy exists. The NBA organization will not put its 77 years of existence in jeopardy. They built their reputation all these years, only to be ruined by profit. No amount of profit can justify ruining the trust of their fans and community.
And I don't think the NBA is losing money to resort to a conspiracy to rig their games.

I will only talk to my best of knowledge because I am not even too sure of my thought here.

So, games are not rigged just because the hosts or managements tends to prolong the league rather, it is rigged in favour of a particular team and sometimes, the deal is not just about the league officials or commissioner, sometimes it is a deal between two teams which if the other team takes the win, there is a stipulated prize for the loosing teams.

It is all about teams interests and understanding of both sides. So it has no path of extending the league because nomatter what it may outcome, there will always be a team to emit in the tournament or even relegated and as so forth until the match (s) is postponed is when I think the manipulated was to prolong the league.

Yes, it is a business and will remain one. However, that doesn't mean that they "arrange"/ fix games, it's not in their favor. As I see it, the risk of getting busted is far greater than manipulating a series, and I'm more than sure that they know it very well. IMO, the ones that want to fix things are the owners. Any team owner needs to understand that the best results come when a league is fair and transparent, and not the opposite. As for the refs, maybe they need a constant reevaluation or some PIR algorithm for being more careful on their decisions, and not to lose their jobs.

I don't know about such collaboration though I know for sure that there are rigged games in there. I have always said about one of my biggest surprise results, it was Bolton Celtics, reigning Champions and winners of that season, maybe last one yet they got and lost against last place with an odd 1.04, something I find disturbingly hard to believe it was a coincidence or a rare occurrence as some people like to call these type of results. So since these results happen to make things "more interesting" I can only agree that what you are describing can very well happen in the NBA series, in US I got my specific conviction that anything that make you money is "allowed" through many different "contexts", one of them being what you just said here.

I have seen some unusual and weird plays from replays that went through the internet and most of the comments said that it's rigged and, that player probably has got some bet in Vegas. While it certainly is a business, I'll let the time to show if there's really something going on that's beyond our imagination through these important games. If proven that they're trying to rig the system and games to earn more, that's going to be the downfall of the league. And there have been histories of those players that have been betting against their team games.

NBA is business, everything is business where money flows. More games mean more money but at the same time you have to keep in mind that more games increase the risk of injury, which means that highly paid athletes will have to rest. Also, people often watch matches because of top athletes and not because of the whole team.

NBA is the third largest sports league by revenue in the world, next to NFL and MLB and yes, they want to become cleaner. They added L2M reports and Hawk-Eye. If what OP talks about was true, then there would be lots of people involved into it at too much personal risk for a low reward + high possibility of injuring a player and losing more. NBA is not completely rigged-free but it's doing well.

Off course I believe that there is a level of conspiracy between the FA and referees not just in the NBA but sport general there is a level of interference in making sure that teams that has a large followership which has the potentials of bringing more revenues to the league are favored this is related to match fixing .


One thing that people are concerned especially the league management body of different sports is money the the more money that is generated the more money that flows in the system more money is even generated to the clubs so this is a big business that goes on behind the scheme

I have no idea, I am not sure since I am not an NBA fan, but then, I've always believe that sports is more of the business than simply sports, this is why footballers, athletes in various forms of sports are paid in huge amount of money weekly or bi-weekly, where does that money come from? It must be made so the players can get their due pay.

So I believe management of any sporting firm know and would do whatever it takes for them to make the money, it is the money that keeps the sports running, without money, there is no sports, so I am absolutely not surprised if the  league management work hand in hand with which ever body interested to extent a game for the benefit of the league in terms of making more money.

Though I'm a huge fan of the NBA, I still understand what it is, and my answer is NO.
Do you really think the entire league of players, coaches, and refs sits around plotting how to rig calls just to extend a series?  Maybe focus less on conspiracy theories and more on actual basketball instead of fabricating conspiracies from thin air and wishful thinking.

I don't know if the basketball league is scripted.
It's not like wrestling, which is purely business and a scripted match.

Cases like this is inevitable sometimes, aggrieve party will accuse the officiating team of bias and unfair treatments, and sure is possible for such thing to happen for referee to get biased in favor of a team over the other, it normal but very unlikely in marches that have heavy interest and competing team's with high equal influence, so such matches fixing and rigging only happens in local football leagues and games and very minimal on international stage.

How reliable is this, are you just saying this as fact you're sure of with evidence proving the view or you only think of the possibility that it's true, because if the side that has the highest fans are being favored over the other, then we may not enjoy gambling on the other weak side in terms of fame, money and supporter, we should also know that not every history repeated itself, if we had known the outcome of a match before gambling, then no one would have afford being in lose by choosing the less supported team.

One game is valued at 10 million if I am not wrong or that's what I heard in a podcast so I won't be surprised if they are found doing something like that but it's unlikely to be cause the amount at stake is in billions or even more so if they try to make 10 million they are taking a huge risk of busting everything so it's professionally fair not like our suspicion.

And if ref is becoming biased then it will be obvious and they might take a hit so in this highly surveillance world it's not possible to play the cards in every possible way.

Hard to be scripted as you will see the actual performance inside the arena. If there will be fixed matches, you will surely spot some unusual behaviors and if you are a long-time fan of this sports, would be easy to spot as you can see what's going on with their game. Sure, there will be conspiracy theories. But if indeed there will be games that are rigged, and people will post some proofs, this sports will decline its bettors as well as followers.. It will surely have an impact in their popularity and people will talk about its trustworthiness.

That is in game's that have such technical equipment to replay such wearing spot that call for questioning the outcome of the match and wether or not there is rigging in the results, but most of the matches that are rigged are mostly local games, where there is no adequate technology to capture and monitor all the progress of the match to spot such act of rigging if there is any after the game, i have hard match replay before and it was caused by corrupt officials, but local football games any ways

I mean, you have got a theory on what could be going on within such a professional league as the NBA is, but without offering further proof of what you claim, it is just that, a theory.
Though, if you or anyone else managed to conclusively proof that the directive of the league and teams of the NBA rigged their games for the sake of extending their seasons, it would become such a huge scandal that the NBA and the sport itself within the United States would never be seen under the same light again, that is for sure.

I don't follow the NBA so much as I am more into football, but of you could statistically that something is off, then people would start to support your theory and demand for an explanation if your investigation becomes viral enough... how knows... Corruption has shown nothing is sacred in this planet, not even sports.

They mostly happen in the lower tier of tournaments in football, basketball, and other sporting events that we may know. The most known leagues and tournaments, it's very unlikely to happen. But you can't stop yourself from thinking why those odd plays have happened, why the unusual calls have been called. Why the fouls that are obvious weren't called. These questions are normal for us when we are tuning in to the games and we've seen that it actually happen and that's our first reaction while seeing those.

It's an entertainment business that thrives on the support of its fans, so they are not going to betray their fans and their supporters just for the sake of making money from one or two games.
In fact, they are doing their best to eradicate fixed games to get the trust of the basketball fans; the gate receipts will suffer if fans find out that they are manipulating games for profit.

Not gonna say it's rigged but at some point they're considering the profit from those additional series. Especially if it's both good teams, and there's a massive audience to it, I'm for sure they want to be efficient in profits and it's their job after all to get profit from playing. You can really feel the shift in momentum sometimes that doesn’t make sense unless you think about the business side which is happening not only to some sports but esports too. At the end of the day, it's a business and they want to take advantage of everything, the hype, the drama and such so yes, might be possible.

I don't think they're rigged, although they could perfectly be, but it wouldn't be easy at such a high level competition. That said, what worries me most is the fact that, if they were rigged, and some people were caught cheating, we would forget about it too fast. Like: well, we suspected that something like that could've been happening, so what?

In our local basketball league, there is this conspiracy that many have believed to be real whenever the games are in the finals. And that's why many don't watch it anymore. But if it's with the NBA, the league is fair there and they'd penalize the teams that have been found to be part of selling games. While we fans want to see games up to game 7 because that really maximizes the entertainment value that these games are providing to us. It's only a speculation and conspiracy if posts comes out that the management itself is the one deciding to make it up to the referees for them to call based on one's team favor. It's very unsporty and unethical if these speculations are real.

I am also one of those people who believe that sports is all business, so for me, it is not impossible for the game to be fixed in order to extend the series.  I also noticed that sometimes the game looks a give away when shots that should have been made are missed.


True, extending the games will make the fans excited, btw, how can the NBA penalize themselves if they are the ones planning the rig for more revenue?  But well, we have no solid proof for that "conspiracy rig theory" so all we can do is just shrug our shoulders and enjoy the game.


Just like what you stated, it is an entertainment business... so it is more inclined to profit while satisfying clients and the tighter the match is the more excitement the fans get, the more they will anticipate the next game, the more revenue for the sports.  Btw, there are lots of actors in sports, so we really can't notice if the game has been planned since they know what they are doing.   ;D

I wouldn't be surprised at all if this happens, because the world is largely ruled by money and many sly people will do anything just to earn even more. That's why I think the NBA can easily be extended. The only question is how much the fans who have been watching this for a long time will like it, but I doubt that many of them will stop watching their favorite league, maybe they will just express their dissatisfied opinion a little and that will be the end of it.

We can only speculate, and up until now, it's not proven if officials, players, or the organization can rig a game; the stake is just too high if the basketball community finds out that a game is being rigged, or even if there is a report of rigging the game.
NBA is being followed internationally and it's a multi-billion dollar organization, so the least they can do is to deceive the fans by rigging the game.

In all sports involving large sums of money, match-fixing cases cannot be ruled out. There are always people looking for ways to increase their profits by any means. It’s important to be aware of this. Besides money, entertainment plays a crucial role in sports .It attracts fans and keeps interest in competitions alive. Sometimes, match-fixing is also used to make the game more intense and exciting.

In the world of proletariat and bourgeois, every entertainment is a business, infact everything is a business however in the case of NBA sometimes it usually seems like there is a conspiracy but if thought twice it could be normal circumstances that lead to the extension of games. I personally do not think this extension is for business sake or for profit marginalisation.

I would agree if only there is a little case of evidence pointing towards that but since there is none it's more like our normal speculations during every match.

The fact is most of the time claims like these are not considered except there are valid proofs that just can't be ignored. Most of the time even if case scenarios like this play out there would be negative effects on the side of the casinos especially if people discover that they actually cheated in a match.
The ideology behind it most of the time is who would want to trust a casino That cheats for just a game. Logical people just end up concluding that such a casino will steal from them so they could eventually withdraw.

I tend not to believe in things like this as long as there is nothing backing it up - it ruins how one views these sports the moment you start believing things like “they are staged”, “everything is scripted” and all those shits; they’ll mess up with your mind and start making you view all of them as fake even when they are real; thus the reason I don’t care about topics like this as long as there are no actual evidence that shows it’s true.

And now, there’s a speculation going around that the game might be rigged in favor of the OKC, since the public is expected to bet heavily on Wolves after that blowout win in Game 3. Let’s see if that turns out to be true.

I personally want the Wolves to even the series, but honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they lose this game and then bounce back to upset OKC in Game 5.

It’s just very unpredictable, we never really know what’s going to happen. But in sports, speculation will always be there.

I agree with you that this can happen, but there is not even a shred of information to prove your claim and if it doesn't, there is not much to do. Dirty games can happen in all kinds of sports competitions, most of them remain secret and cannot be proven. They only come to light when there is evidence and the process changes after that.

There is a lot of money involved in these sports so it would be a bit naive to think that it remains so clean.

how long has it been since there have been a real scandal pertaining to the sport? i feel like yes it is possible and may have happened befofe but only before

i think this happens a lot with other sports like with indy 500 where one team just got caught cheating and it wasn’t even the first time and sometimes i think that some authorities just turn a blind eye either to make things interesting or to save face

and of course the popular f1 scandal in the year 2021 where rules were bent live on tv to make the championship ender thrilling

This is actually a very interesting topic, but until now, no one has truly proven that NBA games or even a single game were fixed by the league itself.

Because even if someone gets caught, the NBA can easily claim, “We didn’t order it,” and they’ll stay clean in the public eye. Meanwhile, that individual could be jailed, used as the scapegoat. Even players, coaches, and commentators are limited in what they can say. If they criticize the league, they face huge fines or penalties, which scares most of them into silence.

The only referee who was ever convicted was Tim Donaghy, and he’s already free now.

Just search on YouTube, there are a ton of videos about him and how he fixed games.

The most lucrative contracts are broadcasting contracts and broadcasters as far as I know take some of the risk. Certainly a thrilling series with a final game might be attracting more people, but if you think about the incentive that every team has going for themselves, then beating the opponent 4-0 may lead to that team having more fans down the road.

One major problem is, how would two teams go about that? If you imagine that team A has a 3-0 lead and now team B comes and says let's make it 3-2, how would they go about the the other two games? What would be the reputation drawback if team A agrees to doing that and then loses the series because they deliberately gave their advantage away? Losing teams usually have less fans, less visitors. The incentive is more complex and makes it more valuable to in straight games than selling some drinks and foods and merchandise on those additional games coming from hidden agreements.

As was said here, lower league levels maybe it is worth the additional merchandise revenue, but not in the NBA. They have their contracts settled and if they win a series and advance to the next round, that alone gives them additional money.

I remember during the last world cup competition there was also this belief that FIFA had collaborate with the referee to make Argentina to stay longer by giving them less booking. It was obvious for all to see. I don't know how true it is but no one can make a concrete statement about it unless you were in the room when it happened. In every sports there will clearly be favourites that is of the tournament.

Speculation like this isn’t new in the NBA or in any major league, for that matter. But at the end of the day, if nothing is proven, it will always remain just speculation.

Now, from a gambler’s perspective, we look at these things to help analyze which team to bet on. And if you’re familiar with the concept of “betting against the public,” that’s pretty much what it comes down to.. when the public is heavily backing one side, the “fix,” if any, often seems to favor the opposite side.

some refs can be biased in some games but it might not be straight up manipulation or rigging of the game it’s also possible that the ref just made the wrong call without any intention to actually alter the entire match or season

Although I believe the league isn't perfectly clean, I don't think they would go as far as to arrange matches to make sure every series reach game 7. Perhaps there are several factors why some games appear scripted. Bad calls from the referees, for example, is one. And then there are also unbelievable bad plays which make people wonder whether they're intentional. There are also times when coach decisions make everybody curious. This goes on.

Are these instances part of a big script? Possibly, but I think it only happens to a select few matches. They overdo it, they know fans would lose confidence in the league.

This conspiracy theory has been running for years, and I've heard that multiple times already from different people.
The problem is that, we can always say that they're trying to extend the series to have more money, but we can't even prove it to start with. It's all pure opinion, but they can't back it up with proofs.

What I believe though is that, there are times where referees are making controversial calls here and there, and it's becoming a norm already, but to rig the series and extend it? I haven't seen anybody said anything about it THAT HAS PROOF on it. It might be happening, or it might not as well. One thing's for sure though, fans are happy watching their team playing so let's say we have the benefit of the doubt, and this is true that they're rigging it. I don't think the fans care about it because they are happy watching their favorite teams playing on their home court.

One thing we should also considered is that human is human and they can change at any given type to just make sure things went through for them, this people don't mind if they are caught, of course this would also tarnished their good image. Yes, that is right and they are higher-profile-sport leagues whatever the fowl play they are doing over there and if they are caught then there maybe no chance to, and could lead to firing of who initiated it at the first place.

That conspiracy theory might have looked legit since OKC did win the game but how do we explain the point spread?

I mean, bettors who took the moneyline on the home team lost, but those who bet on +2.5 covered, since OKC only won by 2 points. So technically, both sides were kind of “served,” which makes it more interesting.

Now looking ahead to Game 5, everyone’s expecting OKC to finish the Wolves. So if an upset does happen, the Wolves’ moneyline will pay out big.

I don’t know if it’s healthy to think this way, but it really starts to feel like a game of speculation more than analysis sometimes.

That’s the problem - OKC won, but they failed to cover the spread. I still believe a lot of bettors probably went for the Wolves moneyline, especially after their convincing win in the previous game. So even though the Wolves covered, it’s possible that many still lost overall on this matchup.

As for Game 5, I’m not totally sure yet, but I’m leaning toward OKC on the point spread.

Human is human, and business is business. The NBA sports has several big investors who will call shareholders, meaning there are rules and consequences they have to keep the system running. If they care caught consequences must given we cant say they don't mind to be caught. Even in football, they always clear their traces so they don't get caught. The NBA League Office is responsibly for any misbehave, wile they may be the manipulators they will surely find a way to connive  or shift the accusation on someone to save the NBA sports.

I've heard that before, even when I was young that big companies do really tend to make the series extend as possible for the purpose of having more profit. It's actually logical to do as an owner of the company of the stadium, however what I'm not sure is how do they settle it. Do they talk with the team that is winning, let's say TEAM A vs TEAM B (and the score is 0-3), do they intentionally let the other team win at least once or twice? or make it even to extend the series?

Though it might be true because it's business after all, but the risk is the more the players are playing, the more fatigue and vulnerability they can encounter.

I'm not sure if big series like NBA do this?  ???

I don't also think this has been the actual condition as it happens with the teams in concerned, there might be bids for manipulations at the course and also anything arising to cause for an extension, but how they got it all settled amicably could be a serious problem and concern, because here money and opportunities are involved and we have a number of people gambling as well with the same intention of seing what ends the match.

So if it happens, they may only do it on their own without having any share to give on any side, because those that gambles could be the ones staging such pressure to avoid their massive loss after placing a bet.

It's not about NBA but didn't Diego Maradona said something similar? - Ban bookmakers and you'll see a real football.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I remember a similar statement from someone but I don't know who and how they said it in English, it's my interpretation.

Basketball is the most famous sport after soccer, NBA is one of the richest league in the world, richer than soccer leagues. I'd say that the NBA is not rigged but sometimes referees are rigged. NBA is too big to rig, no profit worth the potential loss that it will generate if they rig the game or anyone inside the NBA leaks the information. I often bet on soccer matches and I know that there are cases when referee will be on one team's side, so I either bet on that team or I avoid the match.

There has been reports of staged games being exposed although it was not in the top league but in those league that people do not really care about apart from people in the states these leagues are based in. They have lots of followers but they are not intentional fans. I think some games are rigged, in all sporting events. There are some football games that gets me surprise how the game turned out and what comes to my mind is that the game was staged. Some underdogs can cause an upset but when the other clubs are not putting in the efforts to win the game, you can not help yourself than thinking the game was already sold out before it even started. Clubs after getting their targets achieved for the season, they begin to careless about the games and lose games they should have won.

I think that wherever there is a place for big money, there will always be similar situations when something like this can happen to get a bigger profit. I once watched a documentary about fixed matches and I was shocked by how widespread this phenomenon is, the film was mainly about football and tennis, but I have no doubt that this can affect all sports where there is big money. I fully admit that bookmakers also have an influence on some outcomes that could be profitable for them, so I have not been surprised by this for a long time and when I see something inexplicable happening on the field, I admit that for someone it could be profitable.

I also think that this can happen, because big money wants to become even bigger and because of this they come up with various schemes. And as for the extension of the league in basketball, this can happen very easily and even in other sports, I will not be surprised at all. The only question remains with which sport this will start happening and how quickly it will spread. In general, today you can go to any gambling site and see that bets are always available on a huge number of sports, the main thing is that the client has money for this.

Before, I had these kinds of thoughts too. But we have seen some 4-1's and 4-2's, which means they do not really have any control over what is happening. If you are questioning the blowout of the Timberwolves in Game 3 against the OKC, I think it's just a strategy to make the team rest for 1 game and show their strength again on the next. Just like what happened today.

I doubt they are manipulating the whole game, but commanding referees to do some cooking could be possible. Still, a great team could win the series in a sweep even if the referees try to manipulate it. Plus, they cannot make obvious mistake calls because the world is watching. They might lose more fans if proven.

NBA is high quality show. And show must go on. NBA games are bright, there are lots of activities to spectators, lots of food and drink, team attributes stores, etc. If we can add more games - we can make additional show.
I think that you`re right. It can be even agreement with teams, not official of course. It is win-win strategy - everybody is interested in such result.

The same thing that only frustrated fans can say about NBA, that the games are been extended hahaha ha, I know where this is coming from. What we don't want to believe or accept is that NBA have a reputation to protect, many fans only feels happy when things go their way but if something else happens they will start blaming the organizers.

Skills are basically useless once the game can be rigged, AND basketball is a game that's too neat to not detect some rig behind the closed door, everything about this game is agility and skills.

NBA have good reputation to protect, fan needs to start supporting this instead of filling their heads with nonsense about a game been rigged just because they don't want to admit defeat.

I don't think so. I think it's like in European football. It's possible to rig some games but not very important teams if it's the main league. As you go down the league it's easier for people to buy into a team that is, for example, playing for promotion to the first division. But among the best teams, no way, and I think it's the same in the NBA.

By confidential agreement. It could be between coaches, players and as well with the referees.
Like I said formally, both team goals in the match is to win but where a bigger team could afford to loose it pride by loose against the lower contender, hidden prize such as exchange of players with based on potentials might be require or funds.

Although that is usually where the bigger team are not interested of the trophy or match probably if they portrays bigger than it or sometimes, teams might freely give up to an uninterested match to reserve players energy for an upcoming match.

Sometimes too, the rigging could be among players even though it is just few members like (2+) from both Team A and Team B who are major key players of the teams could also rig a match.
Sometimes too, the rigging fails when the officials rigging it did not involve the players.

As per scores, it will still be agreed among them deciding on how many goals or  draws.

They probably are. Think about it, no explicit agreement is needed to make this happen. Such an agreement would make it risky for everyone involved. What is much safer it to teach every player to understanding that extending the season each time, is more profitable for everyone involved. If they understand that, they will adjust their play sometimes even without realizing themselves.

This kind of rigging is very risky and can lead to discovery and consequences for everyone involved. It is better not to draw so much attention.

Having too many people involve in cahoots to rig the match would mean leak of info. If there are too many people conspiring to rig a game, its impossible for information not to go out.

But the team coach probably will just dictate what the team would do and that this direction come from the top and the coaches just follow what was ordered and the team knows nothing about the rigging.

Not everything we heard of are real in gambling, having a probability over something does not guarantee it is as we have seen or thought of, though there could be a number of conditions that may warrant extension in a match like that of the sports games, this is mostly done without the intention of being in favour of one against the other, but just to ensure everything is being done in accordance to the normal and required standard.

Actually even on the era of the GSW and CAVS that time there's a chance for a business right here imagine they manage to make a comeback and reach again with the game 7 and at the end of the game GSW wins the series and of course many bettors already anticipated this kind of strategy, that's why we often check which home court will make a game to identify the chance of winnings, also check the players will be go in the field also the injured star players this could be an advantage to you if you will go for opposite bet or not.

Absolutely not. Specially in a top tier league of high viewership. You know how many people it requires to get a game rigged at that level? NBA is a cashcow and they won't risk it's legitimacy by trying to get quick in a single season.
Can't fully deny individual players trying to fix points or games. It's unlikely but it just needs a single morally corrupt player. But all of the management and referee trying to just elongate the games is not possible. Even to make two teams fix along with everyone else involved is just impossible. They are just conspiracy spread by people trying to get attention.

I understand the situation (draw or victory) in the world of sports what else basketball, boxing or soccer can be set to determine victory, of course you know who is playing in such a situation.

Cases that OP questions have happened here: Former Official: NBA Refs Rigged Playoffs To Extend Series (https://toronto.citynews.ca/2008/06/11/former-official-nba-refs-rigged-playoffs-to-extend-series/), So it's not impossible to do in the basketball league that you mean and for certain games.

In the world of sports, such cases have happened.

You could be right but I don't think that there's any sort of rigging going on. A conspiracy between the management and the referee to extend the series to favour a particular team sounds ridiculous because if this is done it would certainly be obvious and it would affect the how the sport is being viewed by others. When it comes to the NBA a lot of people believe that it's governed by transparency and integrity, maybe you are seeing things the wrong way

I could remember referee Scott Foster :). People literally called him The Extender. ;D if you follow the NBA even a little, you should know how teams that are trailing in playoffs somehow end up winning by Foster's officiates. That's why he achieved such a funny nick :D

Also, I could recall a long time ago one ref, can't remember his name right now, alleged that some company men were working behind to extend the series from game 6 to 7. They just wanted to boost the NBA's revenue by prolonging the series.

So yeah, I think such a claim is not new here, something always happens behind the scenes in NBA. Basically, more games = more money ;)

Yes Diego Maradona has been known to have been against the involvement of money-influence in sports. Yes, he was known for his outspoken views, that the bookmakers should not have an influence on game. However a direct quote from him saying, doesn't valid i think. I can catch his view, he always want to see the sport free from external manipulations, just it.

Now come to NBA, even though there have been claims and suspicions about the influence of various factors, including series expansion, there is still little clear evidence. Although NBA has handle actively all of the officiating concerns but fans and media always bring those controversial issues to increase viewership. So we should avoid those rumor, and enjoy the game.

I don't think that they're doing that. The conspiracy was there a long time ago, but the NBA itself won't do such things that are going to stain their reputation. While some players are doing sh*tty things for their personal interest, the league will not condone that after finding out that they're doing stuff against their policies and heavy punishment like getting banned to the league for life is being done. And that's what I think the same with the biggest leagues like FIFA, UEFA and other world renown sporting events and organizations.

I can’t find who said this but I understand where they are coming from. After all, the intentions of rigging a match comes from winning a bet most of the time. Anyone who has their money at stake would do anything to win even if it meant rigging the match.
You don’t know whether that referee would be biased or not. Even if it’s home court, it’s still possible that a referree be objective. So you really don’t know if it can be rigged. It’s hard to tell.

That’s exactly why we need to use our brain when gambling. We all know rigging isn’t a new thing  as it’s been part of the talk for a long time. For experienced bettors, this is actually one of the factors they consider when analyzing games.

But if you don’t believe in those conspiracy theories, that’s fine too. At the end of the day, even those who believe in the rig still lose like the rest of us. We are on the same boat, different mindset.

Of course anything can take place just to be on the winning side, and as for rigging a match honestly it's something that we find more often in different areas of lives and it's going to take awhile to get off the board. Then I use to think that it doesn't work that way but on the contrary the referees are being paid to carry on this kind of deceitful task just to favour one league or the other and there's nothing to be done about it. So it's literally possible to do so.

Uhmm no. The NBA would not dare to risk to do that, otherwise they'll gonna lose literally everything once they're caught.
If the NBA decided to rig everything as they see it very good with business. They could've let teams like the Lakers and Warriors reach the finals. These are the teams who generates good income.
Also, If you remember the Cavaliers got swept in the finals against the Warriors with KD. Those were an interesting match up, but then again, if the NBA wants an extended series, they could've at least let the Cavs win 2 games.

The few games that I know that were rigged and caught those involved in it were severely punished - some were dismissed from their club never to come back again while some officials found guilty were asked to serve some time behind bars.

So I don’t think the whole sport federation would approve of any game to be rigged just so they can prolong it - if any match is rigged it would definitely be done carefully so that no one would find out even some officials might be kept in the dark about it.

They know what’s at stake if they should engage in such an act, the whole integrity of that sport would be ruined if it’s discovered that none of the matches we have been seeing were real, that most of them were scripted.

There is no way to prove it, we can only speculate, but when it comes to money, anything is possible. The more games, the more exposure, both for the league and for the sponsors. Although the internet is a cheaper means of marketing, television still reaches the masses in their homes. It is great for selling fast-food, cars, beer, soda, etc. Many families watch the games together and are voracious consumers of this type of product, mine is one of them…

It almost doesn’t matter what we think because even if we believe it’s possible , as long as we have no concrete proof there is no other way to prevent it from happening again or from even getting those involved penalized. Lots of fans can and do speculate. Though some come from a point of bias. So It’s really difficult to observe whether the fans’ speculation is full bias or is there any concrete basis.

You know I have always taught of this but, I will always ask myself. How can this be possible? But, truly there is something they are not telling us in this games. But, come to think of it if they can influence even trading, how much more, these games. I believe anything in business is possible and football is now not just a game but a business, not just a business but a major world business and so, so many companies are tied to the outcome, like the betting businesses and the rest.

Another factor that could be driving it is gambling. We all know there’s a huge amount of money flowing in and out daily since sports betting is super popular. If someone already knows the outcome, they can bet on it and that’s instant and easy money.

Where there’s betting, rigging is always possible. Syndicates are everywhere, and they can easily hide behind legitimate businesses.

It will remain a conspiracy for that if ever they're the ones doing that. And, with all of the retired NBA players, they should have speak freely on the internet or social media about that if ever it is happening. But with all of them, none of the spoke about how rigged the games were or if there is a plan to prolong games for the management to earn more revenue. Another conspiracy will come in to that, that they have signed an NDA and they are not allowed to speak any ill or expose what they have been through. These conspiracies will really make us crazy but gives us something to think of.

I definitely submit that some games may be rigged- NOT by the association but by the players.

In the past, there had been reports of game fixing made by the referees and players to a certain extent. With sports-betting being very famous nowadays, players will put their stake against their own team and rig the match by intentionally not scoring and/or missing easy baskets.¹ This is also not new because game fixing made by players are practiced internationally in different leagues in the game.²

Obviously, Adam Silver will defend the NBA and punish anyone who is involved in game fixing. Though I do agree that they will try their best to maintain the integrity of the sport, however, when money is on the line, integrity seems to be the last thing that players think of.

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1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_NBA_betting_scandal#:~:text=The%202007%20NBA%20betting%20scandal,%2C%20and%202006%E2%80%9307%20seasons.
   https://www.nba.com/news/jontay-porter-banned-from-nba

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Pilipinas_VisMin_Super_Cup_game-fixing_scandal

It is no more a new thing that some big games even outside of NBA are rigging their games to make more money, I am not ready to be a special investigator just to prove myself right that games are been rigged and this still won't stop me from gambling anyways, get used to it already, it's no more a new thing.

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This is why we all need to apply smartness into gambling, it's not a favour playing ground, if you are not risking only what you can afford to lose you don't know what you are doing and I feel right about this because gambling will teach you some lesson that you won't forget.

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If money is that easy to make everyone in the world will be rich already, all gamblers will have good news to share almost all the time, but will it keep the casino business in progress mode? No I believe.

Although rigging has occurred in smaller leagues, as I've noticed or read in some articles, I don't believe it happens in the NBA. Whenever there is suspicion of a game being rigged, an investigation is conducted, and so far, nothing has been proven.

Meanwhile, the series between the Thunder vs Wolves already ended with the former already in the Finals so the doubts are gone if there is a conspiracy to these NBA Conference Finals.

It is true that more games mean more money, but a big association like the NBA cannot get their hands dirty for the extra cash they will be getting from the extra games. The organizing body in football are also intentionally adding more games and extending tournaments, but it is simply to make more money, there is no foul play involved.

Fixing matches and stuffs like that happens, but not in the big leagues or association, you have to go below to the smaller leagues to see such, because over there they don't have so much to lose.

It's normal for fans to feel that some certain decisions are rigged when they feel any bias but without any solid proof it'll just be speculations. League organizers can subtly plot to have some extensions to manoeuvre for business purposes to get more viewing time, not necessarily to rig matches because that will be cheating. I think that most fans just want to relax and enjoy games and are not much bothered about sports organizers tactics to make more money. What matters most is that fans and bettors alike don't feel any bias in the field of play.

There is definitely not going to be a proof by an outsider (one who is not amidst on the ground of negotiating the rigging) because it is usually confidential.

So no matter how you may strive on investing if the game is to be rigged, you won't stil get it right but as for the experience gammers, we sometimes are suspicion that certain games is rigged based on gathered factors about the teams strengths such as those games you think that you can fearlessly stake your treasured values because by m historical records, there are certain teams that should not be compared to the other just like the Chelsea and the Real Betis match yesterday that ended 4-1.
Notably, there was no chance for Chelsea to loose the match because Real Betis stands an underdog position while Chelsea was the Whale.

So if Chelsea had lost it, to my own perspective, that would had been a rigged match and such is how we can only identity or point had a that a match was rigged. Perhaps we can still assume a rigged match to be a fixed match. The point of the officials is to make more money on bettor which also leads to why we may find a feasible winning game but at end we losts it.
That is because, we were not aware of what was planned behind the match officials in hands of manipulating the matches.

Yep, they are all speculations, but I'm a heavy believer in the saying that there is no smoke without fire. There is surely some dirty games the big boys play with these sports. Although I'm not a big fan of NBA, but in football we've seen several referees penalized for their partial officiating of some matches and others convicted for taking bribes to favour a team. I believe the same goes for NBA.

Like you say, we would be spectating until actual evidence pops out and all spectating has evidence backup, then the illegality in some of their actions would be fully exposed. I am positive these manipulations are very much obtainable.

Man the NBA is not like the PBA where some people think the series needs to be extended just to generate more money. In the NBA, it's actually the opposite the shorter the series, the better. (I'm saying this because I thing OP is from the Philippines) lol

Fewer games mean fewer expenses for travel, accommodations and operations. Teams also benefit by getting more rest and being better prepared for the next round, which is a huge advantage, especially for those aiming for the championship.

There is no game that can not be rigged so I'm not surprised about extending matches so that the fed can make more money from them. Sport is business that fit those that don't know, fixed matches is one of the way these people make money from sports.

This is why we keep seeing some matches ending in disappoinment because these people always indulge in match fixing allowing gamblers to lose money since that is one of their highest ways of generating revenue. I have stopped to gamble on some certain sports because of frequent fixed matches within the league, making us to lose more when we are supposed to be making profits from our bets.

I don’t really agree with that. If expenses were really such a burden, then they shouldn't be playing anymore in the first place. Maybe you're just focusing on that one side. What about the TV ratings, advertisements, and all the fan engagement? More games usually mean more excitement for the fans, which helps the league grow  especially since their ratings haven’t been consistently high lately.

Now, on the betting side, it might be a bit different, but that’s just one factor to consider among many.

What I believe is simple: more games mean more money. So if they rig the game to extend the series, that just brings in more profit.
But on the betting side, that's a whole different story. If the league is run by a syndicate, they could be making way more money from the bets than from running the league itself.

Now about today’s game, pretty sure the Pacers are the favorites not based on odds, but do the Knicks still have a shot to extend the series?

The line is -4.5, but the moneyline feels like the safer bet. ^{(I think knicks are gonna win).}

If there is a match against Real Madrid and the match is in Santiago Bernabeu, be assured that the referees will be on Real Madrid's side. Overall, it's a well-known fact that referees are biased in favor of the team that has match on their own stadium. It's also a well-known fact that referees are more forgiving to superstars and in some cases, to the teams of where these superstars play. For example, Messi is a superstar and every referee tries to avoid yellow or red card to him because if he gets benched, that will cause a huge protest in players since most of them come to watch his performance. When it comes to world cup, everyone wants Messi or Cristiano to win, so they treat Argentina and Portugal better but today it's not the thing to my mind since these two players are almost retired.

Maybe what you’re saying has a grain of truth. For example, when you watch the Champions League, it’s hard to deny that referees often seem to favor Real Madrid in certain controversial moments. Of course, this also happens in other matches, but since we watch games as fans, we naturally have a team we support, and if the referee makes a close decision in favor of the other team, it triggers negative emotions. But that doesn’t always mean the referee is biased toward one side or the other. Referees are human too, and they can make mistakes.

I want to be luck, that's all, I don't care if games are rigged or not, you can win even if a game is rigged, your own is to risk what you can afford to lose and watch the game plays out, either in your way or other.

What about you won a game and later you find out that it was rigged, will you return the amount you just won because it was a rigged game? This is why I used to say that gamblers who complains are surely not winning, that's why they are complaining.

Let games be rig, one team have to lose and the other have to win, it could even work out in your favour, that rigging you hated so much, I thought many gamblers don't care about the games but the results of the games they placed bet on.

Time to prove if the league is really rigged, if they push this to a Game 7, then the Knicks have to win… which means my bet on the Pacers will lose, ;D

You never really know what’s gonna happen. Sure, the Pacers are at home in a closeout game, but the Knicks could steal one and bring it back to MSG.

I’ve got my money on the Pacers, but I’m definitely curious to see if this “conspiracy theory” has any truth to it.

For the sake of confirming the “script,” let the Knicks win this game, haha.

But seriously, there should be no tomorrow for the Pacers. If they lose Game 6, they’re basically handing over the series. I don’t know the exact percentage of road teams winning a Game 7, but I’m sure it’s very low. If they’re smart and look at the stats, they won’t let it get to that. Perfect setup too... home crowd, great venue, celebrate the win, award the Conference Best Player… and call it a night.

This is exactly how I picture Game 6 going down, that’s why I’m riding with the public and backing the Pacers to close out the series. If they extend it to Game 7, it just feels forced. Not fun anymore. OKC is already waiting, well-rested, and we don’t want to see a boring Finals where the Pacers or Knicks are gassed from a 7-game war.

So don’t overthink it. No rigging this game, just let the better team win and move on.

The Pacers’ performance in Game 5 was like, wtf. Even layups wouldn’t go in, and Haliburton wasn’t taking many shots like usual. Also, they invited the firefighter in Game 4. Like, why not Game 3? Do they know they are going to lose, or did they purposely do it? This is the reason why many think the game has a script and is rigged. They are like milking the community by extending the series even if they can finish it already if they want to. But if we think about it, the League will earn more if the Knicks enter the Finals.