2013 NBA Finals : Is “The Association” Fixed?

With the Miami Heat set to face the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals, one cannot help but wonder if this was destiny or design?

Normally, I am not the type to give theories of games or even leagues being fixed or rigged much thought or attention, but after the Heat’s 23-point blowout win over the Pacers, 99-76, some questions cannot help but be raised about how and why the NBA wants the Heat to win and why.

The Pacers dominated the Heat on the glass, 53-33 in playing tough and hard-nosed team-oriented basketball while Miami looked lost, lethargic, dazed and confused in losing 91-77, in Game 6.

In Game 7, Indiana came out and played like a freshman JV squad against a group of McDonald’s All-American upperclassmen.

While Miami deserves credit for making adjustments and finally solving the riddle of Roy Hibbert and Paul George, can someone please explain how a team in Indiana who out-rebounded the Heat all season long by over 100, were bigger and younger in the low post, and the top rebounding(45.9) and defensive team in points allowed(90.7) ended up getting out-rebounded and pushed around by the likes of Chris Bosh?

It didn’t help that the Pacers led the NBA in turnovers, as they would turn it over 21 times in Game 7, Indiana’s lack of a true point guard on their roster and the loss of All-State small forward Danny Granger can possibly be looked at as contributing factors in Miami’s romp, but is that all an excuse coming from the legion of haters or just that Miami came to play?

To all the many Heat haters and conspiracy theorists suggesting that NBA commissioner David Stern purposely orchestrated the Heat getting favorable calls without any facts, proof or even a valid argument is a bit of a stretch.

There are many out there who felt that the Heat purposely lost Game 6 so that they could win Game 7 at home.

My question to those people is, how and why would this benefit the Heat in giving a veteran team such as the Spurs an extra day of rest and preparation?

So again, is the league fixed to favor stacked teams such as the Heat?

Could be.

The one area where I could hop on the ol’ conspiracy bandwagon is that Stern wanted the Heat in the NBA Finals against another stacked and decorated team such as the Spurs.

While the Spurs have four NBA titles, the four NBA Finals that featured them (1999 vs. New York, 2003 vs. New Jersey—now Brooklyn, 2005 vs. Detroit and 2007 vs. Cleveland) are the four worst ever in terms of ratings.

Getting a more favorable media draw in the star-laden–universally despised–Heat would not only bring the NBA Finals back to the realm of the Bird-Magic days of the 80’s, but also bring in some much-needed ratings.

Outside of the 305 area code, the Heat are the most hated sports entity not named the Oakland Raiders, New York Yankees and Notre Dame Fighting Irish, while the Spurs have been criticized for their boring brand of play, it is much easier to root for the more team-oriented small-market fundamentally sound Spurs than the high-flying, flashy superstars from South Beach.

Make no mistake, The Spurs and the Heat were clearly the class of the NBA and deserve the right to play each other on its highest stage, if the NBA were indeed “fixed” then the Knicks and Heat would have played in the East Finals, rather than the Pacers right?

That being said, theories of fixing will continue to be the proverbial drink of choice for the Heat Hater nation, too bad for them that it’s really bitter in comparison to the cool and smooth mojitos of success that Heat nation have enjoyed so far.

@Miami_Heat #HeatvsHaters #AreYouIn? 

Robert D. Cobb is the Founder/CEO/Senior Editor-In-Chief Of The Inscriber : Digital Magazine, for questions, comments and concerns email me at [email protected] follow me on Twitter @RC_TheInscriber and follow The Inscriber : Digital Magazine on Twitter at @TheInscriber