Rudy Gobert was recently charged with an offensive foul after which the Frenchman rubbed his thumbs and forefingers together, indicating monetary benefits, directed towards game official Scott Foster, who had handed the foul. The sign is often used to indicate money, wherein Gobert was trying to call out Foster for rigging the game. Though Foster failed to notice Gobert’s gesture, the other official, Natalie Sago, saw the same and assessed a technical foul to the Minnesota center.
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The Inside the NBA crew, consisting of Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, and Charles Barkley, discussed this issue in one of their latest segments. While the crew tried dissecting the reasons behind Rudy Gobert’s gesture, Kenny Smith made an off-handed remark to Shaq, hinting at the 2002 Western Conference Finals being rigged in favor of the Lakers against the Sacramento Kings. Speaking to the panel, Smith said, “Oh my bad Shaq [Shaquille O’Neal], I didn’t mean to bring up old stuff!”
Shaquille O’Neal was upset about the subject of his former Lakers team being brought up to discuss this issue. Seems like Kenny Smith opened some old wounds from the Big Fella’s playing career. The controversy regarding the 2002 WCF started brewing in Game 6, with the Kings having a 3-2 advantage over the Lakeshow. Despite Shaq being overly physical, the referees did not make foul calls on him. The refs also made bad calls against the Kings, thus costing them the game and, eventually, the series.
On the other hand, Charles Barkley believed that Rudy Gobert should have been suspended for his act on the floor. Chuck said, “I thought he should have been suspended…The one thing we can never do in sports is make people think it is fixed.” Chuck was concerned that such actions from players could be detrimental to the sport and might as well lay a massive question to its integrity.
Nevertheless, the question of NBA games being rigged and referees acting biased has been raging for quite some time now. Chris Paul is one of the perennial victims of Scott Foster’s officiating, claiming to have lost many important games and playoff series due to some of Foster’s calls against his team. However, it’s only up to the league to make a stringent decision on this affair.
Former NBA referee also claimed the 2002 WCF was rigged in favor of the Lakers
The NBA referees and executives were accused of manipulating game results, as per a New York Times article from 2008. The charges held former referee Tim Donaghy guilty of rigging games, which the disgraced official even admitted to in a letter through his lawyer. Donaghy pleaded guilty to conspiring with gamblers and was sentenced to 15 months in a federal prison on August 15, 2007.
Donaghy admitted to betting on several games, explicitly pointing to the disputed Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings in 2002. According to the former referee, the officials were directed by the NBA executives to ‘manipulate games ‘to boost ticket sales and television ratings. Donaghy cited Game 6 of the 2002 WCF as one such instance.
Indeed, the game could be disputed as being rigged due to the several bad calls made against the Kings that night. The Lakers shot 40 free throws in that game, and 27 came in the fourth quarter. The Lakeshow beat Sacramento 106-102 to clinch the series, moving on to win against the Nets in the NBA Finals for their third straight NBA title.
