This was a story I first wrote June 11th of this year, once the news cited in this article broke.  At the time I was having serious issues with WordPress, so it ended up being saved and forgotten until now.  Decided I would throw it up now that everything is running correctly again.

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I remember the exact day I stopped caring about the NBA.

It was 2002. I was living in Milwaukee, and out in Walker’s Point with a friend. We stopped at a local pub to watch game 6 of the Lakers-Kings playoff series. After watching a second half where the Kings got screwed, I sat back in my chair and took a large sip of beer.

“The NBA is rigged,” I proclaimed to my friend. “The Kings got hosed because the league wants the Lakers in the finals.” Neither her or anyone in the bar disagreed with me.

I don’t think I’ve watched an NBA game in its entirety since that day. There was no point watching game 7, because I, like the league, already knew the outcome. To this day, I feel more honest watching professional wrestling then popping on an NBA game. At least wresting admits it is rigged.

Six years later as the Lakers are again in the NBA Finals, ex-referee Tim Donaghy alleges that the two of the three referees involved in the 2002 game “company men” whose job was to extend a playoff series in 2002 to a seventh game.

Well duh!

If Donaghy wanted to pick a game to save his own skin, this would be the one to pick. No one will argue with him on that point – it’s like saying babies are cute, or George Burns liked cigars.

Still, I know this game turned me off to the NBA for good. I know it did the same for other fans. In a poll on FoxSports.com, 82% of those that responded believed the game was fixed. Combine that with the fact that many people believe the NBA Draft is fixed (myself included), and why would anyone want to watch this sport?

Donaghy is not the problem. One corrupt person in an entire corrupt league is not to blame. Until the entire league is fixed, there is no point in watching any part of it, including the finals.

I’d rather go back to watching wrestling.