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“NBA is rigged!! Celtics just fit the script this year”: Bill Burr’s hilarious belief on referees having too much power leaves Jimmy Kimmel and the audience in splits

Akash Murty
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“NBA is rigged!! Celtics just fit the script this year”: Bill Burr’s hilarious belief on referees having too much power leaves Jimmy Kimmel and audience in splits

The comedian of comedians and Boston Celtics fan, Bill Burr, is not happy even after his team made it to the Finals after more than a decade.

This season in the National Basketball Association, there’s been a lot of bad referring. Not a few but a handful of officials has had numerous blown-up decisions which did or could’ve impacted important games.

One of the recent examples in the playoffs was Draymond Green getting thrown out in the Game 1 of the Western Conference Semi-finals that the Warriors won by just 1-point.

Had the Grizzlies won that game, that series would have gone to Game 7 and who knows what could have happened if they did. There have been plenty of mess-ups before that and since, and it’s time for the Association to decide what they can do to minimize this thing.

Also read: “Crazy to think Kobe Bryant could have been a Celtic and Jayson Tatum a Laker”: Fans wonder what could have been as JT comes out in Kobe’s pre-draft Celtics jersey

As big of a concern as it is for the league and the players, it’s not talked about by both parties as much as it should be. And so fans on the internet do their part in doing so.

But some famous fans, like Bill Burr, have bigger platforms to show their distaste for the matter at hand.

Celtics fan Bill Burr says NBA is rigged, believes referees have too much power

The ever-smiling but one of the most hilariously frustrated people on the planet gave his two cents on referees in the NBA and went as far as to call the league rigged during his recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC.

“I also think the NBA is also low-key rigged,” Burr said. “Why does that surprise any NBA fan? I don’t know how many times you can watch a game, a team goes up by 20, then all of a sudden, ticky-tack foul, all of a sudden, they’re in the penalty. Ref’s job’s to get down to about 5 to 7 at halftime. And then the ESPN talking head comes on and says, ‘I’ll tell you right now, I’m really concerned about that team that used to be up by 20!’”

One of the greatest comedians of all time does have some solidity to his claims, “First half of the third quarter is for the players, and then the referees assess what they need to do to make it come down to the final two minutes. You watch the first quarter, they let the teams play. Second-quarter belongs to the refs. [Then you watch] from the half of the third quarter on. I’ve said it is rigged forever.”

“I’m sorry, [it’s like] I’m saying there is no Santa Claus,” the Boston legend said. And after Kimmel said that fans ignore the sketchy refs when their team wins like the Celtics making it to the Finals this year, Burr who is a Cs fan hilariously said, “We fit the script this year!” He then explained, “It’s massaged to be exciting. The refs just have way too much power.”

Also read: “Al Horford is the best teammate ever, the ultimate professional… he just wants to win”: Jayson Tatum has nothing for the Celtics Big but compliments and respect like everyone in Boston

About the author

Akash Murty

Akash Murty

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An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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