Crazy how much of Allen Iverson's all time ranking is dependent on this Finals run. This is despite AI never getting even close to the finals either before or after this year.
It's still happening today with players. How "great" would James Harden be without his ridiculous scoring seasons in Houston where nobody was allowed to even breath on him? The NBA tries to artificially lift up players for marketing purposes. Honestly, it turns me away from the game that I love.
@@puglife2773Hot take I have: Iverson’s first game of the 03 playoffs is just as if not more impressive than the finals game Philly won in 01. A worse opponent (though still a top five to ten defense that year), but he scored more points on 20% better from the field and in a game that didn’t go into overtime.
The NBA Definitely had it out for the Bucks. A small market team like them making the finals definitely would’ve been bad for the league and for David Stern. If you have the MVP and one of the most influential players in the league at the time in Allen Iverson making the finals, it definitely makes for a more compelling NBA Finals.
Only for the fair weather fans that don't know the game and can't see the bullshit calls. For the real fans, it just makes me hate the game that I love. At the end of the day, the NBA chose to appease the fans who might watch the NBA finals and a few random games a year, over fans that are watching the playoffs from start to finish and 60 to 80 games a year. It feels like a slap in the face to the most loyal fans.
Just like 2021 finals when they favored Milwaukee knowing damn well they had no chance of winning so they gave giannis more calls and it was outrageous
I love how you point out not just the fouls, but the TIMING of the fouls. We're going through this now in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs. It's not that they get more flags than their opponents.....it's just they all come in the final minutes of a close game. Every. Time.
AI isn’t the only Sixer legend who is ringless, you forgot Sir Charles Barkley but he went to the finals with the Suns, he was a Sixer legend regardless
Half that bucks roster (including every crucial part of the core) got a ring at some point in their career. The bucks as a franchise got one too with Giannis
I remember this series. It Definitely was rigged against the Bucks. Its a shame too because that title run is AI's crowning achievement and it was completely manufactured. I dont know if rings really matter when the outcome is so slanted like this.
Especially since Lakers/Bucks probably would have been a better series, as the Bucks were an offensive juggernaut that year and had depth, which the Sixers didn't have. Lakers probably would have still won in five games (they were dominant that year and swept the Blazers, Spurs, and Kings that year in dominating fashion), but the games probably would have been more close as the Bucks had three scorers to the Sixers' one, and had significantly better three point shooting. The lack of defense among the Bucks' perimeter players (Allen, Cassell, Robinson, and Tim Thomas were anything but defensive minded so Kobe would have had a field day) and NOBODY stopping Shaq those years were why the series would have still been won by the Lakers in four or five games, but in closer games because of the depth.
@@kevinestes9800Exactly i said same thing, Bucks would put up much better fight. They had 3 players who actually could score and create own shot unlike Philly who was basically AI
The 2001 ECF is a weird one since the Bucks probably should have made the finals, but it doesn't feel as consequential as the Kings vs Lakers in 2002 because it was a competition to see who gets spanked by Shaq.
If it had been Sacramento and New Jersey, two things: A: The league wouldn’t like the matchup for ratings (kind of like the media reaction to the last couple rounds of the 2021 playoffs). However B: We’d have seen the number two offense and number five defense play one another, so a top five team in contrasting components. I’d expect Sacramento to take that hypothetical, but it should be noted that both teams won one game against one another that season, and the Nets win was larger.
@@fortynights1513 Personally I think the Kings beat the Nets pretty easily. Maybe not a sweep but 5 comfortably. The West was so much better than the East those years the Finals were basically a formality. Whoever won the WCF was taking home the championship.
@@fortynights1513 I don't know, I lean towards the logic if the Lakers escaped that WCF by the skin of their teeth, I don't see how the team they immediately swept afterwards was going to upset the Kings.
@@johndebono1870That’s fair. After all, momentum is a thing and the postseason is a whole different animal. If the Net defense couldn’t handle the Lakers, then the Kings would have been tougher on that end (second ranked vs third). Just mentioning the regular season matchups because those two did play each other in reality, and I was kind of surprised to find that they split the two games. Either way, I would have favored Sacramento in probably five. That year, both conference finals were more competitive than the actual finals.
Hot take I have: The conference finals have an underrated history to them in my opinion if only because of how often one conference has been considered better than the other. In this case, the Sixers and Bucks were good, but I wouldn’t expect either one to beat the Lakers. Though I do find it interesting that the Bucks won both games they played against the Lakers that year, and I would expect a hypothetical Bucks-Lakers finals to be closer than what we got.
Bucks-Lakers definitely would have been a much better Finals. Not only were the Bucks a tougher matchup for the Lakers but they were just a better team overall than the Sixers. I agree with you in that the Lakers would probably have beaten them in the series but it likely would have gone six or seven games.
The Bucks actually beat the Lakers overall during the regular season that year too. They knew it would've been better matchup wise. They just cared more about ratings 😒
Honestly, I don’t think that the Bucks would have done much better against the Lakers. The Lakers only lost one game during that entire Playoff run. Shaq was the best player in 2001 and he would beat up on teams.
definitely resonate with that George Karl theory. i felt that way during the 2018 Cavaliers/Pacers matchup with that Goal Tending on Oladipo. Evan Turner said something relating to this theory recently in an Interview.
There are so many examples that can be pointed to. The Blazers v. Lakers Game 7. The Kings v. Lakers Game 6. This series between the Bucks and Sixers. And most definitely the series between the Heat and Mavs. Not just about the amount of fouls, but definitely the timing of them and who they are against. I think if we are honest, anytime humans and money are involved, there is a chance for corruption. The LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
Bucks got hosed Milwaukee actually matched up very well vs the Lakers that season (I know it’s only the regular season but still), a Lakers-Bucks finals would’ve been interesting. But Stern wanted Iverson vs Kobe because 💰💰💰💰💰but it backfired because it was over in 5 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Lmao No they wouldn’t have had an answer for shaq. Sixers had mutombo. Bucks would have been swept. Hornets literally took the bucks to 7 the series before….
After the 2000 season, nba filed paperwork to be considered sports entertainment. This used to easily looked up on the Internet but good luck finding it today.
This series broke my heart years ago. I'll never forget the gut punch I felt when Sam Cassell fouled out in Game 7 and I knew our season was over. The crazy thing is - we were 2-0 against the Lakers (the '01 eventual champs who beat the Sixers in 5) that season.
Good to see someone upload a video about this shady series which was almost lost in history. I was there in Philly and supported the Sixers but man, those bs calls just snuffed out the fun in watching. The NBA should've investigated all their refs after that fucked up season and could've prevented the fucked up series of Lakers and the Kings.
Refball is AI's legacy. He wasn't even a GOOD player, just a ballhog with a few flashy numbers. The problem was that Philly hadn't had anything of value on that team since Barkley left town so they were desperate for ANYTHING that resembled Dr. J. He was a streetball legend who couldn't play team basketball of any kind and ALL of his numbers reflect this.
Great video. I watched that series. Was def fixed. Ratings much higher with AI in the finals. AI was such a historically inefficient scorer he needed help to win games. Also the 2000 Western Conf Finals was prob fixed also.
@@Kaimaju_ 08 Lakers iirc but really I should have said games and not series because generally it was refs costing the 6ers regular season games because they disliked Iverson
Some interesting tidbits in conjunction with this - In the first five games of this series, Allen Iverson - the Sixers' lone scoring threat - shot 33/120, or 27% from the field, yet the Sixers somehow came out of this with a 3-2 lead. Astonishing, really. In the Game 4 highlighted in this video, Dick Bavetta was the lead official. He also officiated the infamous Game 6 Kings/Lakers the year later, as well as the Blazers/Lakers Game 7 the year before, in both of which the whistles were heavily lopsided. Even more 'coincidentally' Bavetta was also the ref for that Sonics/Suns 1993 Game 7 that George Karl remembered. Strange, huh? It gets even better though. A Bucks fan went back and looked at games over this period. The Bucks were winning about 60% of their games with this team, much better than at any time between the 1980s and the modern day rise of Giannis becoming a perennial MVP candidate. Somehow, the Bucks lost SIXTEEN consecutive games when Bavetta reffed them during this period, which as a mathematical probability comes out to 0.00000001% chance. Bavetta also reffed Game 6 of the 1999 ECF, when the Pacers were called for 35 fouls to the Knicks' 16, and shot just 9 free throws compared to New York's 33. It's an uncanny pattern. Finally, between 1997-2002, the Lakers had an 89% win rate in playoff games when Bavetta reffed, compared to 61% overall playoff win rate. The Kings meanwhile won 60% of their playoff games when Bavetta wasn't involved, but were 0 for 6 when he was assigned. Where there's smoke, there's fire.
Glenn Robinson not shooting a single free throw until Game 4 is insane. Probably one of the only examples of a crucial player not being on the line for the majority of the series. The only other example I can think of is Wes Unseld in the 1978 Finals who didn’t go to the line until Game 4 of that series. The difference though is that the Bullets won that series.
The nba is the worst when it comes to referee interference on the outcome of games. As a Suns fan I still believe they were robbed in 07. That whole series against the Spurs had so many calls going San Antonio's way, blatant fouls by San Antonio ignored, and that's without counting the ridiculous ejection on Stoudemire, and Diaw, from playing on game 5 of that series.
I was at game 6 of that series, crazy ruckus atmosphere, so much fun. That Bucks team was good. The whole city was so mad, we knew they got robbed. Would they have beaten the Lakers, most likely not. But The spacing and shooting the Bucks had was a good counter to that Lakers team. Whenever I meet a 6ers fan old enough to remember that series I ask them what they thought. They usually say nothing, which for a Philly fan says a lot cause those fools never shut up.
Man I never heard about this series… this new era of replays and social media definitely shows and proves this happens and still goes on to this day unfortunately, But it’s all about the money it’s a business at the end of the day 🤦🏽♂️
That 01 team deserved it so much. Biggest anomaly is they beat the Lakers in all their matchups in the regular season. Not that it woulda automatically translated to the postseason
Hey Andy, I love your videos really wish you would do a Udonis Haslem video I think it’s very interesting none Hall of Fame roll player was able to have a 20 year career on one team that’s completely insane to think about
Oh don't worry... We Bucks fans here in Milwaukee will NEVER forget. This series had me torn.. Bucks is my team, but AI was my guy. I wish they would've just let them ball straight up. Oan... THE BIG DOG Glenn Robinson was the leader of this squad.
It's not fair to a low market teams to be so underappreciated because free agent destination teams like Lakers,Clippers,Heat, Celtics, Knicks and Nets would be pushed buy NBA itself.I know sport these days are all business, commercials, globally cities but come on nobody wants to see similar franchises every year in the Finals.
the mere fact that player collusion is not only condoned, but encouraged, is the root of the problem. You never see NHL players jump to a team in groups to "win a title as buddies". The most you ever saw was 2 players who played together jump to a team. (Suter and Parise and Selanne and Kariya being the only "name" free agent tandem signings.)
I remember a lot of these 90’s refs too. Funny how much celebrity status they attained too especially if you watched enough games who knew who all the refs were.
Unbiased Cavs fan here. I watched this series and stopped watching the NBA for a while after this. This series was so blatantly awful with the calls, it was disgusting.
The Bucks actually beat the Lakers overall during the regular season that year too. They knew it would've been better matchup wise. They just cared more about ratings 😒
Same thing happened on 10 on the finals. Refs slaughtered Boston. We had completely ruined Kobe's game and he would only score with free throws. Refs gave everything to the Lakers.
timing of the fouls was the key, when your on the verge of having a commanding 3-1 lead then u lose due to foul calls, that saps the confidence out of the players specially on tightly contested games and instead of focusing more on the game, the players will focus more on the calls of the referees, even though the other team is being favored with more ft still if they dont convert it it wont help them at all. AI that time was the next big thing after MJ and the referees are corporate guys so they would prefer to have the MVP play for the finals as they were also the most popular team with the most popular player globally.
Slightly off-topic, but I've always had appreciation and respect for George Karl, despite being one of the more hated coaches out there. More on topic but still not quite: The Blazers-Lakers WCF series a year after the Kings-Lakers series has weirdly fallen out of being referenced and spoken about the last couple years, and instead, the Kings-Lakers one dominates, while that Blazers Lakers one almost never is mentioned even in passing. I don't get why either. It was so intensely obvious it was rigged hard, specifically game 7.
Feel like this kinda cursed the Sixers. That whole Bucks core won rings (Robinson in 05, Allen in 08 and 13, and Cassell had one already). AI didnt. Also the Bucks got Giannis and won while the Sixers haven’t made it out the second round since
These are facts! Look at mj. For example, all his 6 rings were rigged for him because he was the face of the rigged nba at the time, which is why he's the fake 🐐. LeBron, on the other hand, earned his rings and is the real 🐐
People only talk about the most 𝗢𝗕𝗩𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦 2002 WCF 🐂💩 , but if you watched the first of the Kings Lakers trilogy, when the Kings first started making noise as an 8 seed & played the #1 Lakers in the first rd best of 5 series. That was the first of the King's screwed jobs. You could easily say the Kings should've & would've beatin the Lakers. Then Shaq went to whining & that's when the 🐂💩 started. The invisible fouls called on the Kings while Shaq played straight up bully ball. I still say Sacramento suppose to won that series in 4. But everybody was high on the Lakers & Sacramento at least at the time, I felt that they felt Sacramento has some years left & since nobody expected anything from them no one would care or even notice. It's fkn Sacramento. plus the league had already had the teams picked to play in the Finals & it leaked out. A lot of people didn't see that because they recovered by covering it up as fast as it leaked, but I saw it & rember it well. But somehow the league was able to cover that slip up just like the help cover up or get rid of the Michael Jordan's gambling bein or allegedly was said to have been a big part of his father's murder. Next thing you know Michael allegedly retire if you want to call it that. Just completely swept it under the rug & nothing else was ever said about it again. Then the most recent fixed Finals being the 2022 Finals. I know yall Warrior fans don't want to hear this, but from day 1 of that season til the final game, that's all the media & the leavue talked about was Steph needing a Finals MVP. & they campaigned for him all season long. They wasn't suppose to get past Memphis. They campaigned for Green to not be suspended because it was the playoffs, but threw Brooks under the bus whom at least went for a block, not snatch a player by tbe neck of his jersey & slap a player a couple of times in the process. & GPJ broke his own wrist. But they gave Brooks the ole 2 for 1 by ejecting him early first quarter & suspended him for the next game. While Green who's well known for his dirty play gets nothing but a fine. Another 𝗢𝗕𝗩𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦. The league is & has been fkn over these good small market teams & need to be called out. & to you Warrior fans, you sbouldn't utter a word because the league has had your back since 2015. I find it hard to believe that the best, second best, or lets just say all star player on your toughest oponent in the playoff that year gets injured against y'all & wounds up out for the series every year you've won a title. All 4 teams had you down or had a LeBron on the team. Kawhi & the Spurs were giving you the biz, LeBron & Kyrie would've gave you hell or the biz without Love, Then Kyrie gets i jured, Harden was bout to gentlemen sweep you then CP3 gets injured, & Brooks wasn't enough, so what happens? Ja is injured just to be on the safe side. All 4 out for the series all four title won seasons. Coincidence?! I think not. Conspiracy? I do believe so! 1 time maybe even 2 of those are possible. But 4? All leading to 4 titles I'm not that naive. I'm not buying that 💩. There's nothing they can tell nor show me to say otherwise. All sports are set up in some form depending on the teams, player/s, & money makers. C.Webb is the perfect example to this dumbASS ring/s determining how good a player is. C.Webb was just as good, if not better, & for surely would've been better had not been for early & later down the line injuries, KG, Dirk, & Tim. Without a ring his career stats is still higher than all of theirs overall. Only stat he trailed in was blks by KG & Tim. Which he should, they both 7 ft playing forewards. Now look up their career stats. & he definately would've had a ring in 2002. But since he was cheated out of one they get a higher ranking. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟!
You should do a video on the 2008 finals where Leon Powe of the Celtics, who wasn't even getting off of the bench. all of a sudden got put into the game, fed the ball as a role player, and every missed shot resulted in a late call from a phantom foul. As a fan I was scratching my head at this. Coaches shorten up their rotation in the playoffs and they certainly don't feed touches to role players. Then at half time there was a "heart warming" story all about the poor little crack baby who over came the odds to be the star of the NBA finals. After I saw that it all made sense. The NBA ruined their most historic rivalry to create a piece of theater and as a Lakers fan I didn't watch another basketball game for nearly 3 years. At that moment, I knew exactly how all those Kings fans felt. All I want as a fan is just a fair game. Let the chips fall where they may. If I get heart broken because my team loses, then so be it. But it least I don't feel cheated.
Ooh sounds like the boomer got big mad big mad! Powe probably got touches because he shot 55% in that finals. I'm sorry you conducted a 1 person boycott because brown people are scary but you most likely made the situation a much bigger deal than it actually was because of internal biases at play
@@KColleyTV I bleed purple and gold, but I'm a basketball fan and 2002 doesn't feel like a legit win for me as a fan. Just like 2008 felt like a robbery. I wanted to be an NBA player with all of my heart and soul, I just wasn't cut out for it. I truly love the game and know what these players are going through to get to this level. It's a slap in the face to all of them as well. They've been grinding at this since they were in JR high school.
@@Davivd2 you are correct on all of what you said. I don't like it because it stains player's legacies. We'd view Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Peja and Divac in a TOTALLY different light had they not been messed with.
@@KColleyTV Yes!!! Look at how long the voters held off on putting Webber into the HOF. No way that happens if they won a chip in 2002. They were legit that year. Or look at if they made it to the finals and lost to the Nets. How are we looking at J Kidd and Mutombo?
Wow. You did mention this in the past but now you got a chance to make a video talking about it. A Bucks-Lakers Finals matchup would've been fun to watch though still they would get wallop by a 7'1" over 300 lbs guy.
The crazy thing is that the Bucks beat the Lakers in both of their matches that year so they definitely would’ve stood a better chance than Philly. It doesn’t guarantee a victory but you’ll never know
@@AirRusher1992 that is true but if the Kings can give the Lakers a run for their money then anything is possible despite the status of the eastern conference during this time
Oh, that series. Blood pressure rising... And the really aggravating part? The 2001 Bucks were a jump-shooting juggernaut--Steph Curry's Warriors, 15 years early. A team with that unique playing style in the NBA Finals would have gotten better ratings and drawn more eyeballs than the undersized AI getting his head handed to him by the Lakers in a 4-1 squash. So not only did the NBA blatantly put its finger on the scale--they got a worse product as a result.
#Sixersfan here. I always thought that if Bucks had beat us, they stood way better chance at beating or taking Kobe Shaq Lakers to 7 games. Ervin J at C was big and far from soft. Had just enough to make Shaq work. Ray Allen would've made Kobe work. Cassell wouldve done his thing vs Fisher. Tim Thomas would've worked Rick Fox and Big Dog woulda Smoked Horry at pf....
What makes the Bucks title in 2021, even more, sweeter is that the league tried doing this AGAIN! Games 5 and 7 of their series against Brooklyn were heavily rigged in favor of the Nets. PJ Tucker fouled out in both games, and Lopez fouled out of Game 5 thanks to some very questionable calls. I know James Harden wasn't 100% and Kyrie didn't play, but neither of those games should have been close on paper. The only reasons why it was was due to KD playing lights out, and Brooklyn being in the bonus with 6 minutes left of every quarter. The league wanted another Iverson Handicap-like series so they could find a way for it to be Lakers vs Nets in the Finals. Phoenix went through this same thing against the Lakers that year as well. If your name is not LeBron or KD, and you don't play in a Top 5 market, the league doesn't want you to win, unless you're the Warriors and you prevail despite REFBALL.
@@BEASTXGAMING19 I was pulling for the Warriors to win that series, and I knew it was rigged based on how Game 4 ended. Game 1 I won't harp at, Golden State had no business making that a game. But Game 4? I'm supposed to believe that the Dubs blew a 12-point lead with 5 minutes to go like THAT!? Thank god, Denver put LA right back in their place in the WCF. (Although the Warriors wouldn't have fared any better against Jokic)
I always had a theory that Stern wanted dynasties. As the second in command in the NBA, he saw how the other leagues flourished with dynastic teams in the 70s. So he started getting rules set into place before he became commissioner. Get the drug addicts out, aggressively set up tv contracts and severely punished fighting. White people had no problem with fights in the NHL and MLB, but we know they wouldn’t tolerate it with the NBA…for obvious reasons. Just so happened he lucked into two dynasties and sought to repeat that in perpetuity. Only eight teams won a title between 1980 to 2014 during his reign.
That's why the 2021 Bucks and 2023 Nuggets should be HEAVILY respected especially the 2011 Mavericks where they demolished a super team that combined 3 top 10 players in a starting line up. The NBA definitely has a rigging system and it's hysterical when a low market team triumphs over favored teams.
I mean in 2021, they were trying to screw the Bucks and Suns so badly, yet both teams made it to the Finals. They wanted Lakers vs Nets so that the media especially Stephen A, Skip Bayless, Nick Wright, and Rachel Nichols would never shut up about it.
@@michaelhession21052020-21 was for lack of a better way of putting it: The year of the “small” market NBA team. The finals was Bucks and Suns. The other two conference finals teams were the Clippers and Hawks (Clippers are from Los Angeles but had never been that far before). The Warriors lost to Memphis. Jokic who plays for Denver won an MVP. And the basketball Hall of Fame inductees included Bob Daindridge, Ben Wallace, and Chris Webber, as well as coaches Rick Adelman and Cotton Fitzsimmons. None of those guys spent much of their careers playing for bigger teams other than Wallace if you count Detroit.
@@fortynights1513 To me that season changed the way championship teams are constructed. Because the Bucks proved that coaching, team chemistry, depth, and having a true home-court advantage to go with the homegrown superstar player trumped the superteam motto of stacking everything. The Warriors and Nuggets each used the same formula.
@@michaelhession2105There’s definitely that. Also there’s the Nets breaking apart two seasons later with that second round playoff series being the closest they ever got. You’ll find attempts to make a Superteam before and after this range, but if you ask me, the “superteam” era will go down as roughly 2009-2023 beginning with the success of the 08 Celtics, and ending with the 2022 Lakers and early 2020’s Nets. And it appears that we are heading into a period of more depth and parity in the NBA.
@@michaelhession2105 I think it goes even further beyond that. When the ref scandal happened, (and a supposed conversation where David Stern told the Maloofs that unless they move the Kings to a "major market", he will never allow them to win a title ever,) teams realized that they had to change how they played or else Kobe or Lebron would be sent to the line 50-75 times a game in perpetuity. The only way to avoid that was to play the entire game beyond the arc and 3 ball accuracy became THE stat to follow. (True shooting percentage may be the homogenized term, but 3 point line accuracy has been the absolute must.) When that happened it neutralized really earnest attempts at refball and nowadays true big men like Anthony Davis, (who would be the Shaq or Dwight Howard of his time otherwise,) are largely ineffective. Its made games boring and plodding, but hey, it largely sunk refball.
The NBA isn't like WWE where every outcome is decided before anybody sets foot in the ring. Still it's not controversial to say the NBA would prefer every playoff series to go seven games.
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Crazy how much of Allen Iverson's all time ranking is dependent on this Finals run. This is despite AI never getting even close to the finals either before or after this year.
He was glorified losing in the finals. He is overrated if you ask me.
It's still happening today with players. How "great" would James Harden be without his ridiculous scoring seasons in Houston where nobody was allowed to even breath on him? The NBA tries to artificially lift up players for marketing purposes. Honestly, it turns me away from the game that I love.
@@puglife2773ai isn't overrated broski u don't kno ball
@puglife2773 it's a team sport, you can't blame a guy for not having a squad with him to help him win a ring.
@@puglife2773Hot take I have:
Iverson’s first game of the 03 playoffs is just as if not more impressive than the finals game Philly won in 01.
A worse opponent (though still a top five to ten defense that year), but he scored more points on 20% better from the field and in a game that didn’t go into overtime.
The NBA Definitely had it out for the Bucks. A small market team like them making the finals definitely would’ve been bad for the league and for David Stern. If you have the MVP and one of the most influential players in the league at the time in Allen Iverson making the finals, it definitely makes for a more compelling NBA Finals.
Only for the fair weather fans that don't know the game and can't see the bullshit calls. For the real fans, it just makes me hate the game that I love. At the end of the day, the NBA chose to appease the fans who might watch the NBA finals and a few random games a year, over fans that are watching the playoffs from start to finish and 60 to 80 games a year. It feels like a slap in the face to the most loyal fans.
I wish I didn't have to say this but it's like my grandmother would say money talks and BS walks, and it's all about the money.
@benjaminweiss1817 i honestly didn't watch much of the playoffs. So I feel like I can't give my opinion on the nuggets.
Just like 2021 finals when they favored Milwaukee knowing damn well they had no chance of winning so they gave giannis more calls and it was outrageous
@@benjaminweiss1817 yea it did
I love how you point out not just the fouls, but the TIMING of the fouls.
We're going through this now in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs. It's not that they get more flags than their opponents.....it's just they all come in the final minutes of a close game. Every. Time.
the Bucks and Ray Allen got the last laugh. AI is ringless while Ray Allen isn’t + bucks won a chip before Philly did
Even Glenn Robison got ring
Facts my friend
AI isn’t the only Sixer legend who is ringless, you forgot Sir Charles Barkley but he went to the finals with the Suns, he was a Sixer legend regardless
Half that bucks roster (including every crucial part of the core) got a ring at some point in their career. The bucks as a franchise got one too with Giannis
Don’t matter Ai was that good
I remember this series. It Definitely was rigged against the Bucks. Its a shame too because that title run is AI's crowning achievement and it was completely manufactured. I dont know if rings really matter when the outcome is so slanted like this.
Especially since Lakers/Bucks probably would have been a better series, as the Bucks were an offensive juggernaut that year and had depth, which the Sixers didn't have. Lakers probably would have still won in five games (they were dominant that year and swept the Blazers, Spurs, and Kings that year in dominating fashion), but the games probably would have been more close as the Bucks had three scorers to the Sixers' one, and had significantly better three point shooting. The lack of defense among the Bucks' perimeter players (Allen, Cassell, Robinson, and Tim Thomas were anything but defensive minded so Kobe would have had a field day) and NOBODY stopping Shaq those years were why the series would have still been won by the Lakers in four or five games, but in closer games because of the depth.
@@kevinestes9800Exactly i said same thing, Bucks would put up much better fight. They had 3 players who actually could score and create own shot unlike Philly who was basically AI
The 2001 ECF is a weird one since the Bucks probably should have made the finals, but it doesn't feel as consequential as the Kings vs Lakers in 2002 because it was a competition to see who gets spanked by Shaq.
If it had been Sacramento and New Jersey, two things:
A: The league wouldn’t like the matchup for ratings (kind of like the media reaction to the last couple rounds of the 2021 playoffs).
However B: We’d have seen the number two offense and number five defense play one another, so a top five team in contrasting components.
I’d expect Sacramento to take that hypothetical, but it should be noted that both teams won one game against one another that season, and the Nets win was larger.
@@fortynights1513 Personally I think the Kings beat the Nets pretty easily. Maybe not a sweep but 5 comfortably. The West was so much better than the East those years the Finals were basically a formality. Whoever won the WCF was taking home the championship.
@@CrazyxEnigmaKings would easily beat Nets too tho n like 5 but we all know they wanted Lakers
@@fortynights1513 I don't know, I lean towards the logic if the Lakers escaped that WCF by the skin of their teeth, I don't see how the team they immediately swept afterwards was going to upset the Kings.
@@johndebono1870That’s fair. After all, momentum is a thing and the postseason is a whole different animal.
If the Net defense couldn’t handle the Lakers, then the Kings would have been tougher on that end (second ranked vs third).
Just mentioning the regular season matchups because those two did play each other in reality, and I was kind of surprised to find that they split the two games.
Either way, I would have favored Sacramento in probably five.
That year, both conference finals were more competitive than the actual finals.
David Stern once said, this Lakers versus Lakers, was his dream NBA matchup
Hot take I have: The conference finals have an underrated history to them in my opinion if only because of how often one conference has been considered better than the other.
In this case, the Sixers and Bucks were good, but I wouldn’t expect either one to beat the Lakers.
Though I do find it interesting that the Bucks won both games they played against the Lakers that year, and I would expect a hypothetical Bucks-Lakers finals to be closer than what we got.
Bucks-Lakers definitely would have been a much better Finals. Not only were the Bucks a tougher matchup for the Lakers but they were just a better team overall than the Sixers. I agree with you in that the Lakers would probably have beaten them in the series but it likely would have gone six or seven games.
@@johngittings4673Facts cause i said Bucks been much better match up cause had more than 1 scorer and more well rounded
The Bucks actually beat the Lakers overall during the regular season that year too. They knew it would've been better matchup wise. They just cared more about ratings 😒
The disgusting part is that you'll just get the prequel to what's gonna happen in 02.
They'll just throw the calls in favor of Lakers.
Honestly, I don’t think that the Bucks would have done much better against the Lakers. The Lakers only lost one game during that entire Playoff run. Shaq was the best player in 2001 and he would beat up on teams.
definitely resonate with that George Karl theory. i felt that way during the 2018 Cavaliers/Pacers matchup with that Goal Tending on Oladipo. Evan Turner said something relating to this theory recently in an Interview.
I remember that Cavs-Pacers series. The Pacers were the better team but there was no way the league would let LeBron lose in the first round.
lebron made a three to end that game. goaltend wouldn’t have mattered anyway
This version of Ray Allen was scary, walking around cheating making every shot
🐐
Back then he more was a slasher
There are so many examples that can be pointed to. The Blazers v. Lakers Game 7. The Kings v. Lakers Game 6. This series between the Bucks and Sixers. And most definitely the series between the Heat and Mavs. Not just about the amount of fouls, but definitely the timing of them and who they are against. I think if we are honest, anytime humans and money are involved, there is a chance for corruption. The LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
You are 100 percent correct on everything you said.
2016 was the most egregious case of rigging in the nba finals.
@@iwishiwasthomasshelby it was unfortunately. I could argue that was the most egregious year of rigging across all professional sports.
@@iwishiwasthomasshelby How could I forget that one??
Or suns v bucks game 3, suns would've been up 3-0 if it weren't for Scott foster
Bucks got hosed
Milwaukee actually matched up very well vs the Lakers that season (I know it’s only the regular season but still), a Lakers-Bucks finals would’ve been interesting.
But Stern wanted Iverson vs Kobe because 💰💰💰💰💰but it backfired because it was over in 5 😂😂😂😂😂😂
He’s a puppet master and there are some people out there, who didn’t like him
@@tylerriley2587 facts
Yup. It's not a surprise that lot of controversial series happened with the Lakers and to a lesser extent, the Spurs during the 2000s
Lmao No they wouldn’t have had an answer for shaq. Sixers had mutombo. Bucks would have been swept. Hornets literally took the bucks to 7 the series before….
@@robinhoodhustsle1356 Bucks had more offensive firepower. They would've lost but they wouldn't have gotten swept
After the 2000 season, nba filed paperwork to be considered sports entertainment. This used to easily looked up on the Internet but good luck finding it today.
Granted you could probably find questionable calls before then too.
Exactly. That puts the NBA at the same level than WWE. So there's your script...
Dikembe taking 19 free throws in a game is wild.
I have been waiting for this video for ages! Thank you for contextually bringing the abnormalities of this series your audience.
Me & my brother were just talkin about this series the other day & there r little 2 no vids about the fix
This series broke my heart years ago.
I'll never forget the gut punch I felt when Sam Cassell fouled out in Game 7 and I knew our season was over.
The crazy thing is - we were 2-0 against the Lakers (the '01 eventual champs who beat the Sixers in 5) that season.
8-0 vs the top 4 teams in the west
@@kylecraig6789Even more crazy now..
The fix was n & I'ma A.I fan. We all knew the banana n the tail pipe
Good to see someone upload a video about this shady series which was almost lost in history. I was there in Philly and supported the Sixers but man, those bs calls just snuffed out the fun in watching. The NBA should've investigated all their refs after that fucked up season and could've prevented the fucked up series of Lakers and the Kings.
They should have investigated themselves? :D
The nba wasn't gonna investigate... they were arguably the ones behind the whole scandal🤦♂️
I've long believed the NBA was rigged especially during David Stern's tenure. Consequently, I lost interest in basketball decades ago.
David Stern destroyed the NBA.
Change my mind.
David Stern was a devil in disguise.. 😂😅😂
I'm liking some of the new music/background music you've implemented the last couple videos, it is noticeable.
As a Bucks fan, this series hurt badly, but all has been forgotten somewhat since the Bucks won in 21
Refball is AI's legacy. He wasn't even a GOOD player, just a ballhog with a few flashy numbers. The problem was that Philly hadn't had anything of value on that team since Barkley left town so they were desperate for ANYTHING that resembled Dr. J. He was a streetball legend who couldn't play team basketball of any kind and ALL of his numbers reflect this.
bro rly included stern choking on his water 😂
A precursor, a warm-up if you will to the greatest travesty in all of sports: the 2002 Western Confefence Finals
Don't remind me
Great video. I watched that series. Was def fixed. Ratings much higher with AI in the finals. AI was such a historically inefficient scorer he needed help to win games. Also the 2000 Western Conf Finals was prob fixed also.
And of course there’s 2002.
Credit LA for sweeping San Antonio in 01’s WCF though.
A Pacers vs Blazers wouldn't be good ratings wise.
Don't forget AI's sixers lost multiple series they should have won because of the refs disliking him
@@lukatosic09What series were those?
@@Kaimaju_ 08 Lakers iirc but really I should have said games and not series because generally it was refs costing the 6ers regular season games because they disliked Iverson
Andy using footage of spanish TV commentator legends Andrés Montes and Antoni Daimiel 😍
Congrats on the 500k subs, Andy!
Sacramento and Milwaukee
The NBA really did not love them
Small Markets
The Lakers are always the beneficiary of calls from the refs.
You can tell the NBA was pissed the Nuggets swept them last year
Some interesting tidbits in conjunction with this -
In the first five games of this series, Allen Iverson - the Sixers' lone scoring threat - shot 33/120, or 27% from the field, yet the Sixers somehow came out of this with a 3-2 lead. Astonishing, really.
In the Game 4 highlighted in this video, Dick Bavetta was the lead official. He also officiated the infamous Game 6 Kings/Lakers the year later, as well as the Blazers/Lakers Game 7 the year before, in both of which the whistles were heavily lopsided. Even more 'coincidentally' Bavetta was also the ref for that Sonics/Suns 1993 Game 7 that George Karl remembered. Strange, huh?
It gets even better though. A Bucks fan went back and looked at games over this period. The Bucks were winning about 60% of their games with this team, much better than at any time between the 1980s and the modern day rise of Giannis becoming a perennial MVP candidate. Somehow, the Bucks lost SIXTEEN consecutive games when Bavetta reffed them during this period, which as a mathematical probability comes out to 0.00000001% chance.
Bavetta also reffed Game 6 of the 1999 ECF, when the Pacers were called for 35 fouls to the Knicks' 16, and shot just 9 free throws compared to New York's 33. It's an uncanny pattern.
Finally, between 1997-2002, the Lakers had an 89% win rate in playoff games when Bavetta reffed, compared to 61% overall playoff win rate. The Kings meanwhile won 60% of their playoff games when Bavetta wasn't involved, but were 0 for 6 when he was assigned. Where there's smoke, there's fire.
Great video as always Andy!! Thanks!!
Glenn Robinson not shooting a single free throw until Game 4 is insane. Probably one of the only examples of a crucial player not being on the line for the majority of the series. The only other example I can think of is Wes Unseld in the 1978 Finals who didn’t go to the line until Game 4 of that series. The difference though is that the Bullets won that series.
The nba is the worst when it comes to referee interference on the outcome of games. As a Suns fan I still believe they were robbed in 07. That whole series against the Spurs had so many calls going San Antonio's way, blatant fouls by San Antonio ignored, and that's without counting the ridiculous ejection on Stoudemire, and Diaw, from playing on game 5 of that series.
Congrats on 500k brotha been watching you for 5 or 6 years now apreciate it
Nice topic, I love you man
Bring the old background music back, it’s more calming and intriguing!
I was at game 6 of that series, crazy ruckus atmosphere, so much fun. That Bucks team was good. The whole city was so mad, we knew they got robbed. Would they have beaten the Lakers, most likely not. But The spacing and shooting the Bucks had was a good counter to that Lakers team. Whenever I meet a 6ers fan old enough to remember that series I ask them what they thought. They usually say nothing, which for a Philly fan says a lot cause those fools never shut up.
I’m glad you brought up the Scott Williams incident. Not a lot of people bring that up
Congratulations on 500k subscribers Andy Hoops
Man I never heard about this series… this new era of replays and social media definitely shows and proves this happens and still goes on to this day unfortunately, But it’s all about the money it’s a business at the end of the day 🤦🏽♂️
Congratulations on 500,000!
This series and the Lakers/Kings series proved to me the NBA is rigged and I'll never change my mind.
Yeah, I still sad that Bucks didn't make a Finals, they deserved it
true
That 01 team deserved it so much. Biggest anomaly is they beat the Lakers in all their matchups in the regular season. Not that it woulda automatically translated to the postseason
My Bucks definitely got screwed in this series and they definitely would’ve stood a better chance against LA than Philly
Got it back in blood about 20yrs later
@@TMC_DEV amen to that
No they didn’t
Philadelphia 2001 had the MVP, DPOY, 6MOY and COY.
Are there any other teams with 4 major Awards in one year?
all chosen by the same guy...
Finally people are talking about this i remember as a kid i was heartbroken know this shit was rigged
I still feel bad for Ray ray because he balled the fck out in that series
Congrats on 500k
They fined the bucks players for complaining about them rigging games when it has been proven that they in fact rig games. Disgusting
64 Free Throws ????!!! Crazy
Hey Andy, I love your videos really wish you would do a Udonis Haslem video I think it’s very interesting none Hall of Fame roll player was able to have a 20 year career on one team that’s completely insane to think about
Oh don't worry... We Bucks fans here in Milwaukee will NEVER forget. This series had me torn.. Bucks is my team, but AI was my guy. I wish they would've just let them ball straight up. Oan... THE BIG DOG Glenn Robinson was the leader of this squad.
Walter Ray was NICE nice. If you knew basketball, you weren’t surprised that Ray was getting the best of A.I.
As a Milwaukeean, I will never forget this
Oh boy that game 7 in 1993 was BS
64 FT’s
But also Eddie Johnson was killing the Suns and he conveniently fouled out 🤔
It's not fair to a low market teams to be so underappreciated because free agent destination teams like Lakers,Clippers,Heat, Celtics, Knicks and Nets would be pushed buy NBA itself.I know sport these days are all business, commercials, globally cities but come on nobody wants to see similar franchises every year in the Finals.
the mere fact that player collusion is not only condoned, but encouraged, is the root of the problem. You never see NHL players jump to a team in groups to "win a title as buddies". The most you ever saw was 2 players who played together jump to a team. (Suter and Parise and Selanne and Kariya being the only "name" free agent tandem signings.)
This series made me believe the bucks would never would never make a finals because of the clear bias against them. Thank god i was wrong
they had to get rid of David Stern first.
my dad completely stopped watching the nba after this series and im not even making this up, as a kid he told me "never spend money on this league'
I remember that one with the bucks and sixers them foul calls was wild
I remember a lot of these 90’s refs too. Funny how much celebrity status they attained too especially if you watched enough games who knew who all the refs were.
Unbiased Cavs fan here. I watched this series and stopped watching the NBA for a while after this. This series was so blatantly awful with the calls, it was disgusting.
Heavy.
Ps That Bucks team was stellar.
You should make this a series about teams that were robbed !!!
Please .
It's total BS that a player or a coach gets fined for stating their opinions about a ref. Are refs snowflakes that can't handle criticism?
I was the biggest 6ers and AI fan i def didnt notice this. I remember when they finally beat the Bucks I was going crazy!!
seems sketchy for sure. Thanks for shining some light on it dude!
The Bucks actually beat the Lakers overall during the regular season that year too. They knew it would've been better matchup wise. They just cared more about ratings 😒
then the 2001 finals ended up being the lowest rated in NBA history until the Lebron era.
Man that 2001 ECFs were especially weird and definitely one of the weirdest matchups for sure that era
Same thing happened on 10 on the finals. Refs slaughtered Boston. We had completely ruined Kobe's game and he would only score with free throws. Refs gave everything to the Lakers.
timing of the fouls was the key, when your on the verge of having a commanding 3-1 lead then u lose due to foul calls, that saps the confidence out of the players specially on tightly contested games and instead of focusing more on the game, the players will focus more on the calls of the referees, even though the other team is being favored with more ft still if they dont convert it it wont help them at all. AI that time was the next big thing after MJ and the referees are corporate guys so they would prefer to have the MVP play for the finals as they were also the most popular team with the most popular player globally.
Slightly off-topic, but I've always had appreciation and respect for George Karl, despite being one of the more hated coaches out there.
More on topic but still not quite: The Blazers-Lakers WCF series a year after the Kings-Lakers series has weirdly fallen out of being referenced and spoken about the last couple years, and instead, the Kings-Lakers one dominates, while that Blazers Lakers one almost never is mentioned even in passing. I don't get why either. It was so intensely obvious it was rigged hard, specifically game 7.
Feel like this kinda cursed the Sixers. That whole Bucks core won rings (Robinson in 05, Allen in 08 and 13, and Cassell had one already). AI didnt. Also the Bucks got Giannis and won while the Sixers haven’t made it out the second round since
Bucks Lakers would’ve been epic that year. Milwaukee was a team. Philly was AI and Mutombo at the end of his career
Wait isn’t Ronny Nunn the guy from BBall breakdown
As a bucks fan this really pisses me off. Stern cared more about bigger names and markets than fairness
Unlike NFL and MLB, it's unlikely NBA would ever adopt robo-refs for games. There would be calls on every possession.
Do you see anyone in their circles suggesting that to begin with?
I wasn't a fan of the NBA til Giannis started getting good. I laughed at bucks fans, hell, Noone wore a Bucks jersey anywhere.
These are facts! Look at mj. For example, all his 6 rings were rigged for him because he was the face of the rigged nba at the time, which is why he's the fake 🐐.
LeBron, on the other hand, earned his rings and is the real 🐐
Lol. Lmao, even.
People only talk about the most 𝗢𝗕𝗩𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦 2002 WCF 🐂💩 , but if you watched the first of the Kings Lakers trilogy, when the Kings first started making noise as an 8 seed & played the #1 Lakers in the first rd best of 5 series. That was the first of the King's screwed jobs. You could easily say the Kings should've & would've beatin the Lakers. Then Shaq went to whining & that's when the 🐂💩 started. The invisible fouls called on the Kings while Shaq played straight up bully ball. I still say Sacramento suppose to won that series in 4. But everybody was high on the Lakers & Sacramento at least at the time, I felt that they felt Sacramento has some years left & since nobody expected anything from them no one would care or even notice. It's fkn Sacramento. plus the league had already had the teams picked to play in the Finals & it leaked out. A lot of people didn't see that because they recovered by covering it up as fast as it leaked, but I saw it & rember it well. But somehow the league was able to cover that slip up just like the help cover up or get rid of the Michael Jordan's gambling bein or allegedly was said to have been a big part of his father's murder. Next thing you know Michael allegedly retire if you want to call it that. Just completely swept it under the rug & nothing else was ever said about it again. Then the most recent fixed Finals being the 2022 Finals. I know yall Warrior fans don't want to hear this, but from day 1 of that season til the final game, that's all the media & the leavue talked about was Steph needing a Finals MVP. & they campaigned for him all season long. They wasn't suppose to get past Memphis. They campaigned for Green to not be suspended because it was the playoffs, but threw Brooks under the bus whom at least went for a block, not snatch a player by tbe neck of his jersey & slap a player a couple of times in the process. & GPJ broke his own wrist. But they gave Brooks the ole 2 for 1 by ejecting him early first quarter & suspended him for the next game. While Green who's well known for his dirty play gets nothing but a fine. Another 𝗢𝗕𝗩𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦. The league is & has been fkn over these good small market teams & need to be called out. & to you Warrior fans, you sbouldn't utter a word because the league has had your back since 2015. I find it hard to believe that the best, second best, or lets just say all star player on your toughest oponent in the playoff that year gets injured against y'all & wounds up out for the series every year you've won a title. All 4 teams had you down or had a LeBron on the team. Kawhi & the Spurs were giving you the biz, LeBron & Kyrie would've gave you hell or the biz without Love, Then Kyrie gets i jured, Harden was bout to gentlemen sweep you then CP3 gets injured, & Brooks wasn't enough, so what happens? Ja is
injured just to be on the safe side. All 4 out for the series all four title won seasons. Coincidence?! I think not. Conspiracy? I do believe so! 1 time maybe even 2 of those are possible. But 4? All leading to 4 titles I'm not that naive. I'm not buying that 💩. There's nothing they can tell nor show me to say otherwise. All sports are set up in some form depending on the teams, player/s, & money makers. C.Webb is the perfect example to this dumbASS ring/s determining how good a player is. C.Webb was just as good, if not better, & for surely would've been better had not been for early & later down the line injuries, KG, Dirk, & Tim. Without a ring his career stats is still higher than all of theirs overall. Only stat he trailed in was blks by KG & Tim. Which he should, they both 7 ft playing forewards. Now look up their career stats. & he definately would've had a ring in 2002. But since he was cheated out of one they get a higher ranking.
𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟!
Hey Andy, i just wanted to tell that i like your videos man keep on that work
If the bucks enter the finals, we will not see the most iconic shot of AI , steps around lue
id pick ray over ai........he took good shots and made them and actually passed and moved without the ball lol
Wait wait doesn’t the rules state that the foul needs to be called on the floor. So that upgrade is 🐂shit
You should do a video on the 2008 finals where Leon Powe of the Celtics, who wasn't even getting off of the bench. all of a sudden got put into the game, fed the ball as a role player, and every missed shot resulted in a late call from a phantom foul. As a fan I was scratching my head at this. Coaches shorten up their rotation in the playoffs and they certainly don't feed touches to role players. Then at half time there was a "heart warming" story all about the poor little crack baby who over came the odds to be the star of the NBA finals. After I saw that it all made sense. The NBA ruined their most historic rivalry to create a piece of theater and as a Lakers fan I didn't watch another basketball game for nearly 3 years. At that moment, I knew exactly how all those Kings fans felt. All I want as a fan is just a fair game. Let the chips fall where they may. If I get heart broken because my team loses, then so be it. But it least I don't feel cheated.
Thank you for this. I appreciate your ability to look at it both ways and see it for what it is. You are among the very, very few who have done this.
Ooh sounds like the boomer got big mad big mad! Powe probably got touches because he shot 55% in that finals. I'm sorry you conducted a 1 person boycott because brown people are scary but you most likely made the situation a much bigger deal than it actually was because of internal biases at play
@@KColleyTV I bleed purple and gold, but I'm a basketball fan and 2002 doesn't feel like a legit win for me as a fan. Just like 2008 felt like a robbery. I wanted to be an NBA player with all of my heart and soul, I just wasn't cut out for it. I truly love the game and know what these players are going through to get to this level. It's a slap in the face to all of them as well. They've been grinding at this since they were in JR high school.
@@Davivd2 you are correct on all of what you said. I don't like it because it stains player's legacies. We'd view Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Peja and Divac in a TOTALLY different light had they not been messed with.
@@KColleyTV Yes!!! Look at how long the voters held off on putting Webber into the HOF. No way that happens if they won a chip in 2002. They were legit that year. Or look at if they made it to the finals and lost to the Nets. How are we looking at J Kidd and Mutombo?
Wow. You did mention this in the past but now you got a chance to make a video talking about it. A Bucks-Lakers Finals matchup would've been fun to watch though still they would get wallop by a 7'1" over 300 lbs guy.
The crazy thing is that the Bucks beat the Lakers in both of their matches that year so they definitely would’ve stood a better chance than Philly. It doesn’t guarantee a victory but you’ll never know
@@calebdouglas7622But you know what they say: regular season won't matter and things change come Playoff time.
Bucks actually matched up vs Lakers that season
not saying they would have beaten Lakers but it wouldn’t have lost in 5 lol
Iverson going off for one of his best performances is the only reason the Sixers didn't get swept. I doubt the Bucks fare any better.
@@AirRusher1992 that is true but if the Kings can give the Lakers a run for their money then anything is possible despite the status of the eastern conference during this time
It's the refs and the commissioners that should be fined.. fr..
its all about the $. nba been rigged.
Oh, that series. Blood pressure rising...
And the really aggravating part? The 2001 Bucks were a jump-shooting juggernaut--Steph Curry's Warriors, 15 years early. A team with that unique playing style in the NBA Finals would have gotten better ratings and drawn more eyeballs than the undersized AI getting his head handed to him by the Lakers in a 4-1 squash. So not only did the NBA blatantly put its finger on the scale--they got a worse product as a result.
Why that Iverson vs Stockton match up don't look right
#Sixersfan here. I always thought that if Bucks had beat us, they stood way better chance at beating or taking Kobe Shaq Lakers to 7 games.
Ervin J at C was big and far from soft. Had just enough to make Shaq work. Ray Allen would've made Kobe work. Cassell wouldve done his thing vs Fisher. Tim Thomas would've worked Rick Fox and Big Dog woulda Smoked Horry at pf....
What makes the Bucks title in 2021, even more, sweeter is that the league tried doing this AGAIN! Games 5 and 7 of their series against Brooklyn were heavily rigged in favor of the Nets. PJ Tucker fouled out in both games, and Lopez fouled out of Game 5 thanks to some very questionable calls. I know James Harden wasn't 100% and Kyrie didn't play, but neither of those games should have been close on paper. The only reasons why it was was due to KD playing lights out, and Brooklyn being in the bonus with 6 minutes left of every quarter. The league wanted another Iverson Handicap-like series so they could find a way for it to be Lakers vs Nets in the Finals. Phoenix went through this same thing against the Lakers that year as well. If your name is not LeBron or KD, and you don't play in a Top 5 market, the league doesn't want you to win, unless you're the Warriors and you prevail despite REFBALL.
So true look at last season playoffs Lakers vs Warriors refs moving mad sus for the Lakers
@@BEASTXGAMING19 I was pulling for the Warriors to win that series, and I knew it was rigged based on how Game 4 ended. Game 1 I won't harp at, Golden State had no business making that a game. But Game 4? I'm supposed to believe that the Dubs blew a 12-point lead with 5 minutes to go like THAT!? Thank god, Denver put LA right back in their place in the WCF. (Although the Warriors wouldn't have fared any better against Jokic)
Between this, 2002, or that vetoed Lakers-Chris Paul trade, I dunno which event I curse David Stern into hell with.
I always had a theory that Stern wanted dynasties. As the second in command in the NBA, he saw how the other leagues flourished with dynastic teams in the 70s. So he started getting rules set into place before he became commissioner. Get the drug addicts out, aggressively set up tv contracts and severely punished fighting. White people had no problem with fights in the NHL and MLB, but we know they wouldn’t tolerate it with the NBA…for obvious reasons. Just so happened he lucked into two dynasties and sought to repeat that in perpetuity. Only eight teams won a title between 1980 to 2014 during his reign.
That's why the 2021 Bucks and 2023 Nuggets should be HEAVILY respected especially the 2011 Mavericks where they demolished a super team that combined 3 top 10 players in a starting line up. The NBA definitely has a rigging system and it's hysterical when a low market team triumphs over favored teams.
I mean in 2021, they were trying to screw the Bucks and Suns so badly, yet both teams made it to the Finals. They wanted Lakers vs Nets so that the media especially Stephen A, Skip Bayless, Nick Wright, and Rachel Nichols would never shut up about it.
@@michaelhession21052020-21 was for lack of a better way of putting it:
The year of the “small” market NBA team.
The finals was Bucks and Suns.
The other two conference finals teams were the Clippers and Hawks (Clippers are from Los Angeles but had never been that far before).
The Warriors lost to Memphis.
Jokic who plays for Denver won an MVP.
And the basketball Hall of Fame inductees included Bob Daindridge, Ben Wallace, and Chris Webber, as well as coaches Rick Adelman and Cotton Fitzsimmons. None of those guys spent much of their careers playing for bigger teams other than Wallace if you count Detroit.
@@fortynights1513 To me that season changed the way championship teams are constructed. Because the Bucks proved that coaching, team chemistry, depth, and having a true home-court advantage to go with the homegrown superstar player trumped the superteam motto of stacking everything. The Warriors and Nuggets each used the same formula.
@@michaelhession2105There’s definitely that.
Also there’s the Nets breaking apart two seasons later with that second round playoff series being the closest they ever got.
You’ll find attempts to make a Superteam before and after this range, but if you ask me, the “superteam” era will go down as roughly 2009-2023 beginning with the success of the 08 Celtics, and ending with the 2022 Lakers and early 2020’s Nets.
And it appears that we are heading into a period of more depth and parity in the NBA.
@@michaelhession2105 I think it goes even further beyond that.
When the ref scandal happened, (and a supposed conversation where David Stern told the Maloofs that unless they move the Kings to a "major market", he will never allow them to win a title ever,) teams realized that they had to change how they played or else Kobe or Lebron would be sent to the line 50-75 times a game in perpetuity. The only way to avoid that was to play the entire game beyond the arc and 3 ball accuracy became THE stat to follow. (True shooting percentage may be the homogenized term, but 3 point line accuracy has been the absolute must.) When that happened it neutralized really earnest attempts at refball and nowadays true big men like Anthony Davis, (who would be the Shaq or Dwight Howard of his time otherwise,) are largely ineffective. Its made games boring and plodding, but hey, it largely sunk refball.
David been sneaky
@AndyHoops_on_Tele_gram do you have insta?
Kobe vs Ray Allen in the finals when they was both in they prime it would’ve been fire
NBA is a business and will always be a business
We recognized this back n the day. The NBA wanted AI vs Kobe
The NBA isn't like WWE where every outcome is decided before anybody sets foot in the ring. Still it's not controversial to say the NBA would prefer every playoff series to go seven games.