It happened again last night as the San Antonio Spurs lost game five of their Western Semi-final series with the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was the second straight home loss for a team that only lost one regular season home game this year. And if you listen to many, it was a game that was “stolen” from the Spurs with the “not fair” help from the officials assigned by the Association. To hear it from NBA fans across the country and especially those that live and die in the city of the river walk, the following comments sum up a strong feeling:
“If you don’t realize by now that the NBA is FIXED, and the refs are on ‘the take’, than you’re an idiot.”
“Never seen a home court dis-advantage but in this series it’s hard to argue that the Spurs haven’t been jobbed twice on their own floor.”
“Its time to investigate these ref”s to see if they are getting paid on the side by mobsters.”
“I lost interest in the NBA years ago because of the officiating. Tough job but they have too much influence over the outcome of a game. From an outsiders perspective it sure seems that the NBA wants OKC in the conference finals and not San Antonio.”
” Guys, the fact of the matter is that the NBA is the most corrupt, rigged professional sport out there right now and it’s because the refs literally have the highest ability to decide the game out of any other officiating body in professional sports. More NBA officiating members have been busted for betting on games, rigging games, etc than any other sport.”
The element of fan that the previous comments represent is not just an aberration. Hundreds of thousands of NBA fans have negative views of the officials and how the way the game is being called. I suggest that when a call goes against your team, the world is ending. But when your team gets a favorable call, you turn quickly and with a smile on your face tell the opponents to “forget about it.”
The NBA is doing the best it can with the best officials in the world. It won’t get better so I would suggest to fans to take it the best you can and move on. San Antonio’s coach Popovich has moved on from last night, immediately after the game, as he knows the game of the NBA. You get some calls, you don’t get others, and some calls are just not going to happen.
Feature Photo: Oklahoma City Thunder’s Steven Adams is surrounded by, from left, San Antonio Spurs’ LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan and Danny Green in the second half of game five in the Western Conference semi finals at the AT&T Center, Tuesday, May 10, 2016. The Thunder won, 95-91 and lead the series, 3-2. Photo: JERRY LARA, Staff / San Antonio Express-News
