The aging Boston Celtics are too old, the star-studded Miami Heat are too talented, the loss of Avery Bradley is too significant and the big three era will finally end, having gathered one banner to raise to the Garden rafters.
The big three era is over, but it isn't because of the Celtics being too incompetent, too injury-stricken, or too over-matched by a star-studded opponent. It's over because David Stern and the NBA are taking the necessary actions to finally put a ring on LeBron James's finger.
The above two perspectives are relatively common perspectives being taken right now in the midst of an Eastern Conference Finals series between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat. The first excuse — that the C's are too old, and that it's Miami who belongs in the NBA Finals — is the one which supporters of the NBA and non-Celtics fans may assume. The latter, though it comes across as desperate, is the one that most Celtics fans and some skeptics of the league will adopt.
I'll take a middle road between the different approaches that are out there. But let's get things straightened out right from the start — the NBA is rigged, and it would take a hell of an argument to convince me otherwise at this juncture.
Now, hold your horses for just a moment. Don't pounce on me with an argument revolving around the word "rigged." When I claim that the league is rigged, I simply mean that the guys upstairs (David Stern) have a significant influence on the outcomes of games in these playoffs. Does this mean that Stern picks Miami in 7 and plays it out as a fairy tale with predetermined game results? No, of course not. It simply means that the league has an agenda, and the referee crews are not only selected based on that agenda, but they are instructed to call the game a certain way to most closely match the course desired by the league.
In a nutshell, there are two basic criteria that cause the influence provided by the league. The league wants (1) a long series, especially in the conference finals, and (2) a certain team to advance, especially when one particular sports television market trumps another. I'll be the first to tell you that the Boston Celtics were sent to a finals rematch against the Los Angeles Lakers a few years ago because David Stern dreaded the idea of the Orlando Magic market being the horse representing the Eastern Conference.
In Game One of this year's series between Boston and Miami, the NBA didn't need to do much intervening. Miami outplayed Boston, and the league got the preferred — not the mandatory — outcome from that game. But let's not forget the three phantom technical fouls that were whistled on the C's, largely changing the complexion of that game. In basketball, an official can influence a game in a very subtle way while still having a very significant impact.
Game Two was the clincher for many people who suspected the theory of a rigged league. LeBron James shot 24 free throws, coming up just five attempts short of Boston's 29 as a team. Three Celtics — Paul Pierce, Mickael Pietrus and Keyon Dooling — fouled out of the game, importantly depriving Boston of their captain for the overtime period. Miami had no players foul out. And in that overtime period, Rajon Rondo was raked across the face by Dwyane Wade on a drive to the bucket. No foul was called, the Heat registered a dunk in transition as Rondo remained hobbled on the ground, and the rest was history.
Just like that — with some help from the refs — Miami staked itself to a 2-0 series lead heading back to Boston. But keep in mind the two criteria that I mentioned. The league doesn't just want a particular team to advance — they want a long series, one that sparks attention and increases revenue. The easiest thing in the world was predicting the outcome of Game Three in Boston.
Much like the West Finals, the higher seed took both of its home games. What happens to a series if the favorite goes up 3-0? Interest is lost. Nobody cares. The ratings for Game 4 fall to a much lower number, comprised mostly of fans from the two participating teams. The regular, impartial sports fans may be watching the Kings and Devils last night instead of the Spurs and Thunder if the Spurs had taken a commanding 3-0 lead. The league will make sure to avoid that development. Boom! Thunder tie the series at two a few nights later, and the interest in this series is outstanding.
And the league did just what I suspected they would for Game Three in Boston. For the first time this series, the Celtics shot more free throws than the Heat. The borderline calls were going Boston's way, not Miami's way. LeBron James had as many fouls in Game Three as he'd been given in the first two games combined. And suddenly, everyone is extremely intrigued by two series that may have seemed all but over a few days ago.
Sometimes I just have to give my long-winded rants about the rigged nature of the league. For that, I apologize. But before you get too upset about that simple truth, let me shed some positive light on the situation. A grain of optimism. The original assumption is that David Stern is finally giving LeBron a ring. It makes sense. The Heat are the team that spark the most interest, and LeBron has tried to get his first ring for a long time. It would generate storylines about the league, exactly the type of exposure they always want.
But have you considered that the desired story may be slightly different? The idea that both the Eastern and Western Conference finals are so eerily similar — a team with relatively young stars against a team with veteran, future hall-of-famers — is interesting. For the Celtics, everyone knows that this season may be their last chance in the big three era. Boston is a phenomenal sports market. Might David Stern want to send them to the big series one more time? Does he want to match up old versus young again with a Celtics-Thunder final? Does he go for the two optimum media markets available at this point by pairing the two veteran squads together with a cross-country, Boston-San Antonio final? We've already seen the league's effort to extend these two series, but we still don't know which teams they intend to send forward.
Despite all of the storylines that would be generated by LeBron finally winning a ring, there is still the other side of that equation — people love to see LeBron fail. It wouldn't exactly hurt the NBA to see James miss out for one more year. After all, it's probably their last chance for a few years to get Boston onto the league's biggest stage.
If Miami wins the next two games and takes the series in five, then I'll be slapped with a little bit of doubt. But until something like that happens, I'm sticking to my guns. The league is rigged — in other words, David Stern has a heavy influence (not total control) on each outcome —and we can't change it. But the Celtics can shoot the lights out, make the job tough on the league, and hopefully help to force their hand. Maybe the league wants us anyway. Nobody really knows. I'll still watch the games, even though I'm aware that it isn't pure. Because like I said before, it isn't fake, either.
If Kevin Garnett has anything to say about it, this series will be a dog fight until the end. And because of that, I have a feeling there will be plenty of talk about the referees' critical decisions in the coming week.
