It's been a turbulent season for the Los Angeles Lakers as they were hit with several different injuries to several key players. Despite it all they've still managed to stay relevant in a tight bottom-half playoff race in the Western Conference.
However, an interesting video has surfaced on the internet and it suggests that there is conspiracy to ensure that the Lakers make the playoffs this season.
In the four minute video there are five games in which the Lakers appeared to have gotten plenty of calls called in their favor. The video shows blatant fouls being made by the Lakers that were never called during a game, which eventually lead to a Laker win.
Now I'm not saying that the games were fixed or anything but just by looking at the video, you'd got to admit that things do appear a little fishy.
For example the March 27th game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, where the Lakers won close 120-117 after Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio missed a three pointer in the final seconds that would have sent the game into overtime.
As Rubio took the shot you can clearly see the Lakers Kobe Bryant foul him as he let the shot off. And if that wasn't enough, center Dwight Howard, who was also near the play, jumped to contest the shot and he swiped Rubio across the head.
Rubio and Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman were irate about the missed call by the refs after the game, but Bryant did not share the same emotion:
"That's not a foul," Bryant told told reporters after the game. "They ain't calling that s-. I don't think I got him. That's just a tough call to make. I just put my hand in. It's not like I went out and smacked him across the arm or anything like that."
And what if the foul had been called and Rubio had forced the game into an extra period?
"We would have gone into overtime and won the game," Bryant said. "It's as simple as that."
According to Sports Illustrated, the NBA later admitted the referees missed the foul call, but an apology doesn't equate to a loss to the Lakers record.
If that obvious foul doesn't convince you that things are a little curious, then the March 30th game against the Sacramento Kings should be all the evidence that you'd need.
The first curious play is the foul call called against Sacramento's John Salmons against Bryant. Bryant was attempting a jump shot, missed it, threw a temper tantrum on the court for about four seconds and then he got the foul call.
The video of the play shows enough spacing between Bryant and Salmons for a foul not to be called, but why did Bryant get it?
The last play of that game really was the icing on the cake.
The referees missed another foul call against the Lakers when Howard contested a DeMarcus Cousins three pointer that would have tied the game. Howard left his feet and Cousins leaned in to get the foul call, but never got it.
That's rule No.1 for a defender to never leave your feet in situations like that, especially when the shooter is attempting a three in a close late game.
But Howard left his feet and Cousins did a smart basketball play but didn't get the call his way even after he was fouled.
Makes you wonder about the play before with Bryant, who was untouched, but got the foul anyways.
The Lakers have six more games remaining in their season and will be trying to regain that eighth seed. If the Laker conspiracy is real, the Utah Jazz can say bye-bye to their playoff hopes.
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