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"      In the video above, which is making its way around Reddit, there&amp;#039;s a series of egregious seemingly Laker-loving calls. In the fourth quarter of a late February game against the Dallas Mavericks, Metta World Peace obviously slaps Dirk Nowitzki&amp;#039;s arm as he shoots, the refs miss it, and then they call a technical on Nowitzki when he complains. In the closing moments of a late March game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Kobe Bryant slaps Ricky Rubio&amp;#039;s hand as he shoots a game-tying three and then Dwight Howard bumbles in and hits Rubio&amp;#039;s head \u2014 all five feet from a ref, who calls nothing. And then, in the final minute of a game three nights ago, nobody on the Sacramento Kings touches Kobe Bryant as he misses a game-sealing shot badly, but after he misses \u2014 and only after the ball falls a few feet below the rim \u2014 a ref blows his whistle for a phantom foul. The video moves in quick succession, offering some of the more convincing evidence to date supporting the long-held belief that the NBA is rigged, particularly in favor of the Lakers, as they struggle down the stretch to earn a playoff spot. But here&amp;#039;s the thing about these NBA-rigging debates: Like all conspiracy debates, they go nowhere. They devolve into isolating a handful among thousands of pivotal moments and then hailing them, without context, as the turning points, bar none, full stop, of the sporting events they supposedly chronicle. If some apologist comes around to defend the NBA, any evidence is parried away. Here&amp;#039;s what a conversation normally goes like, in short: NBA Conspiracist: Lakers get all the damn calls, man. NBA Apologist: Bull. What&amp;#039;s the team that averaged the most free-throws the past five seasons? C: I don&amp;#039;t know. But this year it&amp;#039;s the Lakers because David Stern likes suckling on their big-market cash-cow teet. A: Yeah. [Swigs beer.] But the seasons before this one? The past five. C: Alright, screw it: Who? A: The mighty market, globally renowned franchise known as the Denver Nuggets. From &amp;#039;08-&amp;#039;09 through &amp;#039;11-&amp;#039;12. Number one. Most a game. C: But the Lakers playoff hopes weren&amp;#039;t threatened those years. They didn&amp;#039;t need the calls. A: Yeah, but even when they do need it \u2014 what are they, one game out right now? \u2014 they still lose close ones to teams, like that three-point loss to the Wizards a few games back. C: Well obviously they aren&amp;#039;t going to rig every game. A: So you just get to fking pick which games are rigged whenever you want, to suit your Laker-hating fancy? C: Well, that&amp;#039;s how rigging fking works. A: Fk you. C: Fk you. And so on. Sometimes with different stats switched in. Or curse words. In a time when the world&amp;#039;s biggest sport (soccer, guys) has found many of it&amp;#039;s games corrupted, and the Lakers are so damn close to not making the playoffs for once, it&amp;#039;s easy to give in to the lure of believing in an NBA conspiracy. But arguing on behalf of such a scheme forces everyone down a vortex of bullsht. And so, tonight, when the Lakers play Dallas, who are one game behind them in the standings, and Dirk&amp;#039;s forearm gets slapped again without a whistle, remember that it&amp;#039;s better to spend time reviling the Lakers themselves, instead of some overlords you can&amp;#039;t see or talk sht to. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/sports/a18021/nba-rigged-for-the-lakers/>