PSA: 2016 NBA Finals Can’t Be Rigged Both Ways

The league must want the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the 2016 NBA Finals because of LeBron James, but on the other hand, they have also spent the better part of the year promoting Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.  News flash: the Finals can’t be rigged for both teams.

The track record of the NBA is certainly not unblemished.

From the famous Patrick Ewing lottery in 1985 to the Tim Donaghy scandal in the mid-2000s, the association has had its reputation tarnished and marred in the past.

Such shady events has given credence to the conspiracy theorists or the world by giving them empirical evidence to justify their far-fetched ideologies.

In their minds, Michael Jordan‘s first retirement was the result of an implicit league ban for his “out-of-control” gambling ways and the outcome every playoff game is predetermined.

Related Story: Knicks: Could Rose Be The Answer?

While former NBA commissioner David Stern was most known for globalizing the game of basketball through the popularity of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and his Airness, much of his legacy is also tied to the knowing where “the bodies are buried” in the association.

Thankfully, the same brand of conniving smugness and disingenuous ethos Stern emitted does not resonate with the incumbent head man of the league, Adam Silver.

Perceived as almost the complete polar opposite, Silver has seemingly made all the right socio-economic conscious moves he can possibly make in winning the hearts of the NBA community.

While not all of his decisions are/were prudent in retrospect (i.e. the “Last Two-Minute Reports” for referees), some of his more ballyhooed authoritative statements, such as stripping Donald Sterling of his ownership rights of the Los Angeles Clippers, were met with unbridled applause.

Thus, with Silver’s incessant quest to become the anti-Stern in conjunction with the advent of social media, where every single move an athlete makes, or every call a ref decides to blow his whistle on, is scrutinized, analyzed and Vined, “rigging” a game or an entire series would be a near impossible feat in 2016.

We are in the midst of one of the greatest NBA Finals of all-time, one that will rival the 2013 Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat, the 2010 Finals matchup between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, the 1984 battle between those same two storied franchises and 1998 Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz.

But yet, despite the majestic shooting of Klay Thompson in Game 5, Andre Iguodala‘s omnipresent defense in Games 1 through 4, Kyrie Irving‘s video game-like scoring outbursts in Games 3 through 5 and LeBron James‘ unrivaled dominance in Games 5 and 6, the vast majority of the NBA universe is stuck on the refs and the calls they make, or do not make.

If you’re in the mood to punch a hole through a wall, just try scouring through the venomous forums and game threads of the 2016 NBA Finals — instead of praising the play of some of the best athletes the world has to offer, most of the comments revert back to who the NBA wants to win, and the lengths they will take to make their “script” happen.

Everything came to a crescendo Thursday night when the wife of the two-time reigning MVP Stephen Curry, in Ayesha Curry, shared the same sentiment as the vociferous, conspiracy-promoting public:

"View post on imgur.com"

So apparently, the NBA wants the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the title because of LeBron and his feel-good quest to bring a championship to his misery-inflicted city.

That all makes sense, except the league spent the better half of the year promoting his counterpart, the aforementioned Wardell Stephen Curry as the new “face” of the league.

Which is why the NBA has already determined the Golden State Warriors are going to be the eventual champions before Game 7 ever commences.

Want proof? Well, their championship gear is already being sold on Foot Locker (for those who are sarcastically inept: I’m joking)!

The thing is, throughout the annals of NBA history, the script of the league can be written whichever way you want it to be written.

MJ won six titles because he was untouchable! But, Jordan also went unblemished in the NBA Finals, en route to suppressing all of his rivals of his generation, because of his unmatched combination of fundamentals, footwork, determination, competitiveness, athleticism and motor.

must read: Game 7 Could Be LeBron's Crowning Achievement

We make the conspiracy theories come to fruition by believing in them, in part due to our inherent need to link every action to a reaction.

But instead of blaming your team’s misfortunes to an uncontrollable variable, while not try holding something of substance and appreciate the greatness that is unfurling right before our very eyes.