Conspiracy Over Game 5 Lingers

“The Lakers paid $50,000 to win that game. They got their money’s worth,” said one of the Denver Nuggets, preferring to remain nameless, to Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla after the Lakers beat the Nuggets 103-94  in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, showing the officiating debate over the game still remains. Game 6 is tonight in Denver and after practice Thursday (May 28) Kobe Bryant would only offer this comment on the conspiracy theory: “Is that a question? No, I didn’t hear it.” Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson said, “It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way sometimes these series boil down to who’s got home-court advantage and who thinks they’re going to get the advantage from that end of the game. But we don’t want to make any issue out of that … it’s not something we want to focus on or get them focused in that direction.”

The NBA declined to comment on the Denver Post quote when asked by the L.A. Times and while everyone seems to be talking about the aftermath of Game 5, Derek Fisher didn’t seem fazed. “Overall, I’m a conpiracy theorist … but nah. It’s not any different than any other time in postseason that I’ve been here. It’s just the way it is. I remember going into San Antonio over the years and every time we went to San Antonio, Shaq would get two fouls in the first two minutes. That was just a fact … There are too many things that happen in a basketball game that even if you felt as though the game was officiated poorly or not in your favor, there are so many other things you can control,” said Fisher.

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Posted in General on May 29, 2009

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