The worst kept secret in the world is that the NBA is rigged. You know the league wants to extend a playoff series when they call in Scott Foster or Tony Brothers. If you don’t think that at this point, then I have beachfront property in Iowa I’d like to sell you. There’s a reason Tim Donaghy called Foster more than 130 times over six months while he was rigging games.

Evan Turner learned what the NBA was all about after a conversation with Elton Brand before Game 7 against the Celtics back in 2012:

Hell I loved that Sixers team and I’d rather watch LeBron and the Heat vs. KG and the Celtics one last time. You know David Stern hated the Sixers. They just knocked out the #1 seed after the MVP tore his ACL. These bullshit investigations the NBA has pulled with the Sixers probably result from that. They were enemy #1 in Secaucus even before they had the audacity to take the Celtics to seven games.

Brand was right that the Sixers were going to have to blow out the Celtics in Boston just to get through by the skin of their teeth. However, Game 7, which featured Tony Brothers, actually didn’t show any signs the whistles were favoring Boston. The Sixers finished with 23 fouls compared to Boston’s 22. Boston shot 22 free throws to the Sixers 20. It was a three point game under five minutes, and you’ll never guess, but Doc Rivers made a bonehead coaching decision late. He left Paul Pierce in with five fouls and he ended up fouling out with 4:16 left to play. This was the Sixers game to win! Now after Pierce fouled out the refs did call five consecutive fouls on the Sixers to Boston’s zero, so there might’ve been a little chicanery there, but this was no Game 6 Kings vs. Lakers in 2002. I’d chalk this loss up more to Doug Collins calling a play for a Thaddeus Young out of a timeout with the 76ers down seven and Rajon Rondo putting the team on his back.

Here’s the last five minutes if you want to relive it yourself:


So yea I believe the NBA is rigged for entertainment’s sake. Especially when it’s coming from the mouth of respected NBA veterans like Elton Brand. But we’re not talking about Game 4 of the Boston series from this year:

It was so bad they released a statement eight minutes after Maxey was sent to the first row: