Padrino
All-Star
Plenty of people have said they fix games. Plenty of people, including yourself, have argued in this very thread that titles are "stolen" from teams by a league that rigs the outcomes in favor of marquee franchises/players. If the NBA can orchestrate a draft lottery heist that directs specific players to specific teams in plain view before stakeholders who would riot if such a theft were exposed, surely that same league could have given LeBron and Luka the assist they needed to get by 6th seeded Minnesota in the first round, or could have given Jalen Brunson and co. the assist they needed to squeak by a comparably-talented 50-win team in the Pacers in order to bring the Finals back to Madison Square Garden for the first time in over 25 years. Yet here we are, with OKC and IND in a Finals bracket, absent a single big market or legendary arena or all the glitz and glamor that would accompany big celebrities sitting courtside.
From my vantage, the NBA has done extremely well to establish greater parity. While I detest specific elements of the league's modern style of play and would prefer sweeping corrections to the rulebook, it's hard to deny the spread of wealth around the league. It will be the sixth season in a row (edit: seventh, actually!) with a new champion, and a victory for small market success stories. It's what fans of the game have clamored for, a more balanced NBA where effective management matters more than the city in which your franchise plays. Large markets will always possess advantages over small markets, and luck will always play its role in how a season ultimately shakes out, but the 2025 Finals are a testament to the league getting a few things right.
I'm mostly just curious what kind of pretzels conspiracy theorists tie themselves into when the narrative tilts away from their pet grievances.
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