This Is Why People Think The NBA Is Rigged 

Do you think David Stern rigged the 1985 draft?

27 free throw attempts in a quarter is obvious bias. A team back then probably averaged 23 points a quarter

Even if it isn't rigged, officiating over the last few years has been unacceptably inconsistent. If the NBA wants to keep the league credible in the eyes of their fans, they need to do a better job at training, standardizing and overseeing their officiating crews.

Their sponsors are literally legalized bookies. Every other commercial is about gambling and the announcers do promos about sports betting every break after a quarter ends or during a live timeout.

Ya know, it only takes a couple of "bad calls" at crucial moments of any game to disrupt a team's momentum and change the outcome of the game.

All you need to know about Tim Donaghy is that the FBI went to David Stern, showed him their evidence, and told him that there were more refs that they wanted his cooperation to help uncover. David Stern then held a public press conference and outlined what evidence the FBI had against Tim Donaghy, destroying the rest of their investigation and putting the other refs on notice. Scott Foster is a senior NBA official.

"This is why people think the NBA is rigged." Nah, people just dont think people KNOW it's rigged.

When I saw Tim Duncan get a technical foul while sitting on the bench (not even standing) for laughing, let's just say I had my suspicions. 🤔

Particularly egregious in that Kings-Lakers game--Mike Bibby (Sacramento's best player during that series) was elbowed by a Laker. No call. Bibby's nose started bleeding. The rule at the time was that if there was blood, the team is charged a time out. The Kings were charged with their LAST time out. The Heat-Mavericks finals (Wade before LeBron got there) was so clearly rigged. The refs just kept calling fouls on the Mavericks. They weren't allowed to play defense against Wade. And frickin' LeBron. He just gets every call. Flop-offensive foul. Drive to the basket-foul on the defense. The refs have coddled him since he was a rookie.

Don’t forget Ayesha Curry calling the games rigged and the fact there is an nba ref that has beef with Chris Paul. This is unacceptable officiating by the NBA and I’m glad you are bringing awareness to it. There needs to be a change to the integrity of the NBA

Funny thing about Lakers FT disparity is that they are at the bottom in attacking the paint but still, the Ft disparity next to the 2nd is 200+.

Don't forget that phantom foul called for Kareem (on Bill Laimbeer) in the Finals of 88 too. Since we're talking about The Lakers "always getting advantages."

Great video bro. I'll never forget watching that lakers kings game and was beside myself. This is coming from massive fan of basketball from Toronto, Canada. So I had no bias in that game, however I was cheering on the kings because I thought they had great chemistry all Season as a team. Not just 2 dudes.

That’s why I don’t really watch sports anymore, the older i have gotten, the less I believe that it’s fair and balanced. The referees have ultimate control over the game and you (the player or coach) can’t question anything or else you get fined and (or) suspended. It’s a bunch of BS. That’s why nowadays I just check out box scores and if my team wins I might watch the condensed version on RU-vid or not at all.

Look, I stopped trying to understand NBA officiating around 2013. I have no idea what a travel is anymore, what an illegal screen is, what a foul in motion is, what a tech is, what taunting is... No clue. I can describe you basically every offensive and defensive system. I can explain the most obscure trade exceptions and cap rules. But what a simple shooting foul is? No clue! That changes from posession to posession, from player to player. So is it rigged? As long as there are no clear rules and no accountability for refs, if they call things differenty, I have to asume it is. Other sports like Football (the real one that is played with the foot) get it done. If the NBA cant, they just dont want to.

Watching the Timberwolves try defending Embiid earlier this season was crazy. You can’t touch him, 18 free throws by himself. While the box score looks comparable, the Wolves 3 big men had 2 infractions in the first 5 minutes. The game was over immediately…

here's another theory. The envelope doesn't have to be frozen. You just have to make sure all of the envelopes say New York Knicks inside. Extremely simple and please be aware that an envelope won't stay cold for very long which raises the risk that it doesn't work

That Khawi laugh killed me every time

Adam Silver is a snake.

lol you showing reeves in the video made me remember the warrios vs lakers matchup last year that whenever he drives to the basket he just needed to fall and a foul was called. It was so frustrating and the fakers fan (became a lakers fan because of lbj) kept saying the warriors only has small amount of freethrows because they only kept shooting threes but when I watched the game and they were fouled inside and outside the 3pt line and the ref was so blind.

Many sports are probly fixed/rigged but the average person doesn't care and will still watch because most people don't care enough about honesty and would lie and cheat to get ahead.

Bill Cooper said that every major sport in America is 100% rigged. I have to completely agree. I watch too much wrestling to know better smh

This year is the worst too

Don’t forget to include How teams nowadays are constantly manipulating outcomes by benching players for “rest” / “knee soreness” or some other bullshit. They easily get away with not putting the best players on the court as they’re trying to manipulate the standings. Best evidence is literally the last 3-4 games of the NBA season, where nba teams are holding players back . So ridiculous. They literally devalue these games and expect fans to pay for it. I’m done with the NBA . So garbage.

can you give us a list of all the music you used in this vid ?

As a Timberwolves fan, I can attest to lottery manipulation. From 89-2020, the Wolves were in 22 lotteries from 90-2019. Not once did they move up; they kept their spot 10 times and moved back 12 times. The odds of that happening, according to statisticians who worked for insurance companies, was one in thousands.

ITS NO THINKING!! THE WHOLE MAINSTREAM SPORTS WORLD IS RIGGED!!!

Question: If the NBA is rigged... what about the Super Bowl?

Great video but it ended just as I hoped it was really getting started!

Life long laker fan here. I will never forget that game 7 in sac. They were cheating for us for sure

Y'all gotta stop with this Steph hating. His shooting is the reason they had trouble rigging during his career. They actively try to constrain him. Whoever thinks Steph is the problem is trying to deflect from Lebron. Look at the all time free throw attempted list and tell me what you see. If the league was trying to uplift Steph, he would not be ranked in the lower 100’s for free throw attempts. The man is being scape goated in several videos and comments recently bc Lebron has his minions in the media at work. Jmo

Great research buddy. Thanks. This only solidifies what I already knew: $$$

This was well done and thought provoking. The Kwahi Leonard laugh at the perfect moments were the cherry on top.

i saw a thing today saying that the refs are going to start wearing sponsored patches because "the refs are getting a lot more screen time than they used to." ..........yeah that's what I was thinking too.

I agree, and I think that the Vegas numbers and sports betting is likely a much bigger influencer on games, particularly officiating, than we realize.

Enjoyed this one. Great job.

There is a player or two in each team who help rigging the game, mainly the superstar of the team with few exceptions where there is a player who rigs other than the superstar,

I think with all the betting commercials and how the NBA are promoting it, there is something definitely funny going on, and this time they can't get away with it as easily because of social media, and stat junkies now days. Everyone is watching and keeping track and now we have to hold the NBA accountable, this was an excellent video thank you

It's the most obviously rigged sport on the planet.

Aye bruh… that randomly inserted Kawhi laugh took me out 😂😂😂 4:46

good timing for this vid , did anyone see the Knick game against Rockets , 2/12/24

Ping pong ball lottery drawing would be an absolutely HUGE ratings bonanza. Only possible logical reason it's not televised is the league head office sees MUCH more value in determining where top prospects go.

Steph Curry never get foul calls it's crazy

The Bulls this year lost their 2nd rd pick for talking to Lonzo Ball about joining the team before he was officially a free agent. However, James back when he was joining the Heat contacted Bosh about joining him during the season, he was still under contract, and talked Wade into staying again he wasn't allowed to do that either. He was a representative of a team under contract so James had no right to contact any players under contract. Even when the season ends the players are still can't be contacted until a certain amount of days had past. James didn't wait until the season was over even. This isn't a rule that has changed, in fact every sport including NASCAR has a rule that no one under contract can be approached by any individual from another team about joining them, player, coach or management.

Overseen by Ernst and Young!!! The same guys who were the accountants for Enron! NICE!!!

As a Pistons fan, so many situations come to mind... 88 finals, Wade shooting over 20 FTs in the 4th, etc. And yes, both Sacto and Portland were stripped of their shot at a title by the refs against the Lakers in the early 2000s.

1988 Finals between Pistons and Lakers was the most blatantly rigged in NBA history. Pistons up 3-2, about to win gm 6 - and league "fixer" Dick bivetta took over. Called phantom foul on Laimbeer to cause gm 7. Everyone knows. But what happened in gm 7 was WORSE. Lakers up 1 and made layup to go up 108-105, with 2 seconds still on the clock. Pistons had no timeouts. As Laimbeer went to inbound the ball, the Laker's fans were already rushing on the court, thinking game was already over. The Lakers bench players and coaches did too. Isiah darted between fans. Despite this, Laimbeer fullcourt inbound pass hit Isiah in-stride with a chance for a game-tying 3. Before he could get 1 dribble, Magic collided with him, knocking him to the floor, surrounded by fans. This was game 7 of the NBA Finals and... THE REFS LET IT STAND!! Not only was no foul called on Magic, but the "correct call" per NBA rules was supposed to be a tech on Lakers players for coming on the court(2 free throws) and a tech on Lakers crowd interfering with live gameplay (2 more free throws). The Pistons should've got 4 free throws, AND the ball back with 2 seconds. Don't know why this rigged gm 7 DOESN'T get more coverage than the phantom foul of gm 6... Oh wait, yes i do!

That Lakers/Kings game...was that the game where Robert Horry hit the winning shot at the last second?

The way you can tell is the difference between random and a pattern. If it’s a pattern you know the fix is in. Like betting on a player to get so many points only to see him ejected in the 1st qtr.

22 FTs for lakers, 7 for Nuggets on Kobe statue night.

RIGGED!!!! Its business. Its about bling bling, and every team must take turns to be contender or NBA champ. Warriors got their bonus 2 seasons ago. At present whatever effort Warriors do-will go to naught. Just watched the toe to toe previous games of Warriors. Example: if Warriors almost gonna win a game then unexpectedly-you'll hear a LOUD WHISTLE(s). I think its too frustrating to Warriors players esp. to those exerting exceptional effort every game.

I think so too. Specially from the media personality, owners, trading agents and some players who play for their own selfish gains. Some no longer love the game but too much concern on their career, career, career. Tsk tsk tsk. Good thing Luka came in to show how basketball is all about. Smiling and playing to entertain the crowd who is the backbone of all.

Legalized sports gambling that's promoted by the league is the ruin of the NBA.

Rigged? No. Huge bias concerning certain players? Absolutely. I still can't get over how L.A. shot 43 free throws in one game. That's just crazy.

Heck last night the lakers shot 22 free throws to Denver’s 7. And I watched all the lakers bigs including AD foul Jokic all night and not get called for it. It was a play where AD dang near pushed Jokic down and when he fell and AD tripped over him, Jokic was called for the foul and the lakers shot free throws. It’s sad, the league is trying to cheat the lakers into the playoffs and it’s still not working

Once again the best video NO hypocrisy 👌👌👌👌👏👏👏

Bulls Pacers game 7 in Chicago, Knicks Pacers in New York. Not surprising small market teams hardly have any rings and big market teams have many.

The rabbit hole is deep and the evidence available was enough for me to stop watching the NBA since at least 2018 if not before then.

Excellent video!

If think about the fact that the NBA is a business and it is selling entertainment as a product, then it actually becomes very clear that there is a very high chance that the NBA is indeed rigged. Why is that? Perhaps rigging the NBA makes the product (entertainment) better for everyone to enjoy and in the same time maximizes revenue(s) as one of the important KPIs of any business. So there is a nice incentive to try influence some aspects in order to gain benefits. Better questions to ask could be: 1. Is the NBA having a decreased rate of revenue growth? 2. And why is that? Also, another alternative might be to just rig it better. :D

I feel like American sports are pretty easy to rig. It’s a organization with owners that rent teams. The nba or mlb or nfl control everything. There’s no separate leagues or teams that can try to hold another team or ref accountable like in football. Actual complaints to the organization of UEFA, or La Liga, or the Premier league is a thing. There’s the refs association and fifa. These things are obviously connected, but are also separate. Rigging most definitely happens in sports where there’s drafting odds, and there’s clear signs of ref issues. I mean why would David stern leak the ref details? There’s obviously other refs who were rigging this shit. Also there’s much harder punishments in football for example. refs who do bad jobs have basically had to retire within 2 seasons after really really bad games. Actual consequences. Idk, maybe being to commercialized is a bad thing? Maybe there’s a reason why the nba always merged with other leagues who became decently big until the 80’s. Monopolizing the whole sport means there’s no real consequence for those who set up the whole system. The refs, the upper management. No consequences unless it’s actually illegal, and you’re somehow stupid enough to get caught.

yo ik people gas you up for being “only talking about the warriors” but i’ve been watching ur channel for a while and your videos have improved so much since then and you’ve provided some really good analysis. keep up the good work and tbh good job on using steph thumbnails

Now the NBA openly promotes betting IN GAME

7:12 this recently happened with Toronto, right

What a coincidence Hometown players like Lebron and Derick Rose went to their home towns.

That 2002 game six still infuriates me.

04:44 this had me giggle 😂

The Kawhi laughs in the background are hilarious. 😂

What about the NBA using frequencies and technology in their game ball? When you shoot a basketball, it’s supposed to stay at a constant rate when tou shoot the ball and when it is on it’s way down. But in the NBA, the hall speeds up and pulls towards the hoop on certain shots to make the ball go in. Just slow it down and put it in slow mo 0.25x. You’ll see what I’m talking about.

Fantastic video, great pacing and some very nostalgic things. I value the fact that I can remember not having a phone and the feeling the world had without so much tech. I was only a kid but things just felt… different.

I remember that Lakers/Kings game. They weren’t even shy about it..

I remember watching that Laker v Kings series when I was 11 and I realized it was rigged immediately. I was kind of heartbroken. The thing about rigging is it ruins the value of it all. It also hurts the fans perception of the players. You begin to wonder how great certain guys are if the league is fixing for them.

You convinced me laker fans love watching free throws😂😂

Go back and look at the lone title the Cavs have when LeFlop returned. Now look at Game 4 and take a second look at the Dray and LeFlop incident. Dray hit LeFlop in the inner thigh, not higher. Then LeFlop runs to the league front office, probably straight to Silver who waited for LeFlop with open arms and saying it's ok cry baby, daddy will make it better. If that doesn't say the league has been rigged, I literally don't know what does. Yeah the Lakers get a shit ton of free throws no matter where they are attacking from on the court. The Lakers are also literally the only team that is allowed to play defense. This is why I have stopped caring about watching basketball, no matter who is playing. Everything is built on a narrative for this league. Take Wemby for example, you really think the front office wants a second rookie winning the Rookie of the Year in Chet? Yeah, I don't think so either. You get like a quarter of the story and present it like it's the whole pie, you can do better and should do better. Don't be another LeFlop giving 10% effort. Go hard or go home.

Interesting video

Research when the NBA officially registered as an 'entertainment entity' and you will understand that now they operate 'within the law' and it is no longer illegal to guide the desired outcome of their choosing. It was the early 2000's and it is no longer easy to find that information online anymore. I used to be able to find the exact date with one search and now it takes a whole lot of digging.

As a NBA fan out in the PNW, I can confidently say I think you mean "the late NOT SO GREAT David Stern"..

Bring back one step after dribble - else traveling... and tight calls on carrying... PLEASE!

I'm a Phoenix Suns fan So no doubt in my mind NBA would've never allowed their new dynasty of the Spurs to be beaten by a "small market" team Still don't get how Phoenix....the 5th biggest Metro City in the country is a small market A city that is one of two to host one of the four major sports preseasons?? A city that is a final four host?? A major bowl game host city?? A super bowl host city?? A CFP championship host city? Oh let's not mention that it's also one of the few major cities that professional athletes across all vast majority of sports come to train in their off seasons But yeah small sports market

"You really think a billion dollar corporation would leave it up to the players to decide the game ?" truer words have never been spoken (or typed) This includes NFL,NHL,MLB,FIFA,UFC....you name it

“Its a complete crap!”

The fact of the matter is that the biggest problem in every major sport (basketball, football, soccer, baseball, I can only assume hockey as well) is the officiating. The refs are given free rein to do whatever they please without any oversight and without any accountability. The refs need to be held to the same standards that the players and coaches are and criticism of them needs to be more acceptable, especially when they routinely make clown calls game after game after game.

US Sports are completely controlled by the team owners. Fans have no say. So owners are allowed to maximize revenues. That's why teams can stay horribly bad for decades as their owners keep getting their cut from TV revenues. In Europe sports are regulated so that fans get the best experience. Every year the bottom teams GO DOWN (are relegated) to the lower level leagues making them miss out hugely on revenues. So while top and middling teams fight to either win championships and or be eligible for various cups, teams near the bottom fight even harder to not be relegated! In the US bottom teams get REWARDED with higher draft pick positions! With such control by owners, why wouldn't games be rigged to maximize viewership?

Donaghy's doco on Netflix was definitely an eye opener!

Great video, very interesting

Don't forget the coverup of the referee scandal. The feds had him and he agreed to wear a wire to get others on tape. They let the NBA know of their investigation into game fixing and Stern immediately went public with it.This alerted suspects of the witness and killed any chance of them learning more. The ref was exiled and the NBA quickly called him an isolated incident and declared that nobody else was involved.

i saw a conspiracy once i think on twitter/reddit where it says the average free throws shot in the nba and the nbas tv commercial deals coincided with another to the point of non coincidental more freethrows = more time stopage = more ads and ad revenue for the nba

the way they treated Allan Iverson is enough evidence of BS for any average NBA enjoyer...

I remember watching the kings/Lakers. I was a kings fan and I was yelling that it was rigged. It was wild years later to find out it was true.

great work on this one

I had give up on the NBA. As Nuggets fans (small market) watched for years as anyone who got close to Lebronda or Kobe was called for a foul. It was pathetic when they would ask for fouls when no one was near them while Nuggets players were hammered relentlessly. Seriously they lost to the Fakers for DECADES with the 4th quarter producing enough fouls to win or the Denver star player getting 3 mystery fouls in the 1ts half and the 4th the second they reentered the game. It was clock work. Every time. For a long time We thought the Fakers were paying the ref's. Majic, Kobe, Shaq etc, joking with the refs during the game they knew they would win. Then people in all the small markets stopped watching and the NBA knew it. Then San Antonio is allowed to win and the league changed. Jokic still has to take a beating to win. I'm sure others who watch their teams have seen the same stuff.

It’s not just free throws, it’s not calling fouls one way while calling them the other way or letting one team play an aggressive defense that the other team is called for. Case in point, GS during their dynasty. There were 2 straight seasons that Houston was just flat out better despite having James Harden. Houston was deep in the bench and defensively they were a nightmare matchup. CP, Trevor Ariza, PJ Tucker, and CC were a great starting squad. But their bench was deep and almost as good defensively as the first team. But GS would absolutely mug Houston on D and never get called. I mean clear chopping the arms at the biceps and not coming anywhere near the ball and no foul, just a steal. Yet Houston, every time they would take control would get called for looking at their opponents hard. Happened in both seasons and it was clear the NBA was selling something that wasn’t organic. There’s been other series where I saw this in certain players favor cough cough Labron cough. I’ve said for years that the league is fixed, might not be every season but there are some seasons that are total WWE. In the NBAs defense, the NFL is pretty fixed too. Probably more than the NBA.

I hate when people use shot selection as a reason for why a team does or doesn’t get more free throws. Whether a shot is taken from behind the 3 point line or in the paint, it shouldn’t change what the literal definition of a foul is. Like just cuz Steph shoots 13 3s in one game, refs aren’t supposed to call fouls when he get hit going to the rim and literally gets knocked down? If we’re calling it a foul on one end, if the literal exact same play takes place on the other end, it shouldn’t be called cuz “Well they shoot 3s.”

Wildest/Most surprising succesful challenge I've ever seen during Warriors Sixers. Especially when you juxtapose it to that unsuccessful Warriors one when Les blocked the 3 PT attempt last game. And when you recall Wiggs being called for a foul when Shai karate kicked him. That sh** was fishy AF lmao. Glad the game didnt come down to that. 😊😊

Comparing that Sacramento team versus the Lakers and the free throws discrepancy versus the Lakers today and the Warriors is hilarious . That Sacramento team took the ball to the basket so they should have been getting the calls. As for the Warriors , They are shooting team and shooting teams. Never usually get a lot of calls.

Some officials have it out for certain players and teams

Yep the stink goes all the way back to King's Lakers playoffs. I've been watching the NBA for over 50 years. And it's nice to see someone so clearly presenting the evidence of the stink that favors the Lakers. And this year there's a special stink that's been against the Warriors. 🤮

In my opinion, this video is dead on. I don't have to look at stats to know this. Because of corruption, we may never know what team is the best in the NBA. All I know for sure is that it is not the Lakers. If the Lakers did not get as many free throws, they would firmly sit near or at the bottom of the league. Gambling turned pro boxing into the most corrupt sport in the world. Now, other sports are turning into a haven for the criminal element. Gamblers don't care about honest, fair sports they care only about money, and thats the bottom line.

Perfect example is the Bulls getting Derrick Rose in the 08 draft lottery. There was less than a 1% chance that they get the first pick and lo and behold they get the first pick to get the hometown kid and this is not the only instance of this happening go back and look through the draft and when there's a can't miss number one Prospect who you know in the hometown is you know in the lottery they almost always get the person they need the hometown kid

You undersold how despicable Game 6 was. For instance, you didn’t show Bibby fouling Kobe’s elbow with his face, or any of the other viciously egregious calls. Kobe tried to knock out Bibby’s teeth, and they blew the whistle on Bibby. But there were several calls on Divac while he was getting ran over by The Diesel. And there were various other absurd calls. The Kings had the best Defensive Rating in the League that season, and they weren’t a particularly physical Defensive team. They just played Defense on a string. They played perfect team Defense. They Defended without fouling. It’s who they were. So, yeah. They didn’t suddenly start manhandling the Lakers on Defense. They moved their feet, made perfect rotations and kept their hands high. So, It wasn’t just the discrepancy in number of free throws. It was the number of absolutely outrageous calls. That’s why that game will live in infamy.