Game 6 of the 2002 N.B.A. Western Conference Finals
A good friend of mine has said why talk about a game which occurred over 8 years ago?
Well let me ask all of those who read this a question. If I stole a hundred dollars from you, spit on you and punched you in the face 8 years ago and I saw you again would you not want to punch me in the face, spit one me and take your 100 dollars back?
Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals was like my analogy, except instead of 100 dollars, arguably the N.B.A. took millions, instead of a punch in the face it was a punch in the kidneys and the spit was not just an average spit but the greatest loogie of all time. There is a currently a video on youtube titled “the greatest tragedy in sports” which apparently documents former N.B.A. referee Tim Donaghy’s claim game 6 was fixed. Donaghy himself was a very high ranking official, officiating in over 700 regular season games and 20 playoff games. Donaghy’s claim was commissioner David Stern told his referees to make sure the Lakers would win game 6 and send it to Sacramento for game 7. Keep in mind, this was the only game 7 for the entire playoffs of the 2002 N.B.A. season and it was between two of the more popular teams in the N.B.A. who had a very heated rivalry. Game 7 was watched by approximately 40 million people, which translates into huge advertising revenue for the N.B.A. “The greatest tragedy in sports” was watched by over half a million people on youtube, so for my good friend who says “who cares” well obviously over a half a million people still care. If a game of Game 6’s magnitude was fixed, then how do we know games are not being fixed currently? At this point I may have had people stop reading this blog, believing I’m some whacked out conspiracy theorist. They are mistaken, well partially. I’m not saying for sure Game 6 was fixed; rather I’m going to be making multiple arguments, including the argument of it being okay if the league fixed Game 6! Have an open mind to my blog and enjoy.
Things being fixed in sports have a long tradition. The first such known occurrence was in 1919, the “black sox scandal” in which the white sox players took a dive in the World Series to make extra money. The scandal rocked baseball and if it wasn’t for a fat man with girl legs the sport may have been banded from public viewing, much like the players were banned from baseball. For information on the black sox, see Field of Dreams with the dreamy Kevin Costner. Fixes have also occurred in modern times, from point shaving scandals in college basketball occurring once every few years to the corrupt sport of boxing. Many people will say point shaving occurs in insignificant college basketball games but not in championship games and thus there could not have been a fix in Game 6. I would say there is a precedent for a fix in a championship of a modern day porting competition. The 1999 heavyweight championship fight between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield was such an example. Lewis won 10 rounds of the 12 round bout, landing over twice the amount of punches Holyfield landed. The fight, which involved Holyfield’s promoter, Don King (cough), ended up in a draw. The judge who gave the fight to Holyfield, as Jay Leno said, had a strong resemblance to the foreperson of the O.J. trial. When asked why she gave the fight to Holyfield, she first made a defensive comment saying “my seat wasn’t good” but video shows she had a great seat with a clear view. Now how Don King fixed this I’m not exactly sure. Did he payoff the two judges, did he threaten them, did he talk them into it, who knows. But without question it was a fix. By the way, I will point out even with Don King fixing the scoring Lewis still could of and should have won. He had Holyfield ready to go, but didn’t really fight the last 4 rounds, relying on the judges. Lewis was paid 10 million dollars to fight an entire fight not part of it and was punished for not fighting the entire fight. The point being is an athlete and/or a team can achieve victory in spite of an official’s fix of the contest.
My first point regarding Game 6 is going to assume it was a fix and argue it was a GOOD THING Game 6 was fixed! First I’ll be going back to the 1999 heavyweight title fight. Lennox Lewis must have been bummed his fight with Holyfield was ruled a “draw” believing his months of training went into the garbage, as well as the fans who paid 49.95 for a fixed fight. However, I would argue overall it was good for the sport. After the “controversial decision” the W.B.A., W.B.C. and I.B.F. ordered a rematch which meant another 10 million dollar payday for Lewis. It also meant Lewis got more stature and fans, because the public felt he was wronged and he got more fans than if the fight not been fixed. Keep in mind Lewis was a gold medal winner and a 2 time heavyweight champ before the fight with Holyfield, but nevertheless was disliked by the American public. The fix created a brand new American fan base for Lennox. As far as the fans, well had Lewis gotten the decision like he was supposed to, who was he going to fight next? Tyson had recently violated his parole; Lennox had just beaten Holyfield, so who was out there for Lennox to fight. After Lewis’s second match with Holyfield he ended up fighting Michael Grant, who he dispatched in 2 rounds. The fight with Grant was intriguing for the 4 and half minutes it lasted, but what was more intriguing was the controversy surrounding the “draw” of the first Lewis/Holyfield fight. Overall Don King’s fix was better for Lewis and better for the sport of boxing.
