The Miami Heat made their way to Boston for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Jimmy Butler, as he’s done several times these playoffs, took over and handed the opponents a sour loss on their home court. Butler was incredible, doing everything his team needed. After the game ended, a fan uploaded a clip from the post-game interview, where TNT was showing a tough Butler layup. However, they pointed out the referee’s reaction when Butler completed the play.
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Conspiracy theories are a big part of NBA Twitter and Reddit. People have theories about Michael Jordan‘s first retirement. They claim the 1985 Draft Lottery was rigged. Every game we see claims about the NBA rigging games to get better playoff matchups. It doesn’t help that the NBA uploaded this graphic before the Playoffs started.
🗓️ Mark that calendar – it’s just 30 days until the #NBAFinals.
The 2023 NBA Finals begin Thursday, June 1 with Game 1 tipping off at 8:30 PM ET on ABC. pic.twitter.com/Imq0A1PHge
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 2, 2023
Footage of referee reacting to Jimmy Butler goes viral
Here is the footage we keep mentioning since the start of the piece.
This referee was not happy with Jimmy Butler making this layup 😅 pic.twitter.com/8Ae75WamRf
— Guru (@DrGuru_) May 18, 2023
Even after a single look, we can see that the referee was not pleased that Butler made the bucket. This led the conspiracy theorists to come up with two different theories. The first one revolves around the Lakers–Celtics Finals Graphic.
The NBA wants a Lakers-Celtics Finals 🙃🙃 https://t.co/9QieyC7VuR
— What are NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) May 18, 2023
Jimmy and Jokic are threatening to jeopardize NBA’s script of Celtics Lakers finals
— xyz_09 (@xyzxyzxyz09) May 18, 2023
they ain’t trynna hide it no more
— PA 🇨🇮 (@paaulandreee) May 18, 2023
On the other hand, fans think that the referee just lost money on a bet, and that’s the reason behind his disgusted expression.
Man had Boston and the points.
— BayAreaSportsGuy (@BayAreaDreamin) May 18, 2023
Caught red handed
The referee loss his player parlay!!
Smh!! https://t.co/M5om8ZLb8g— VPOPE!!!! (@vpope34) May 18, 2023
This looks like a man that lost plenty of money off that layup
— Abdel Elomari (@AbdelElomari2) May 18, 2023
It may be possible that he was grimacing just because he had to run up the court again. Who knows? Either way, having a referee react like does not look like a positive sign for the Heat fans. What if there is actually a larger script at play here?








