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In a segment on the 'BIG' podcast, Lakers legend Shaquille O'Neal made an interesting admission on the NBA scripting their games. According to O'Neal, the first signs that his rings weren't real came back in 2000 when he overheard Gary Viti (the Lakers trainer) make plans with head coach Phil Jackson about hotel plans.
"True story and I never told this story," said Shaq. "In the first round, the first championship, I hear Phil Jackson tell Gary Vitti, 'Hey get us some hotels in Indiana because that's where we're gonna play in the Finals.' That was before Game 1 of the Finals and it didn't hit me until we got to Indiana. I'm just telling you what I heard the man say. We hadn't even played one game yet and they were back in the meetings like get us some hotel rooms in Indiana.' But I'm glad we beat Reggie Miller."
This is when Shaq knew the NBA was scripted
— The Big Podcast (@bigpodwithshaq) May 15, 2024
Our new episode ft. Funny Marco is LIVE now! Watch here: https://t.co/2lqm4Mdt0I pic.twitter.com/m0RiqpKOBV
The idea that the NBA is scripted is not a new one and it's been received to varying degrees of popularity over the years. In the case of Shaq's accusations, only Jackson and Vitti know what the conversation was all about but the Lakers did end up playing the Pacers that year, just as Jackson had predicted.
What Shaq doesn't realize is that the Pacers were clearly the best team in the East at the time and it wouldn't have taken a genius to predict that they could make a Finals run. They finished first in the East that year after winning 56 games. Reggie Miller was the hero of the post-season with amazing plays that made him a legend in the city.
In the end, however, Shaq and Kobe were able to overwhelm the Pacers and send them home packing for their first NBA championship. While most basketball fans would say that the Pacers were simply outplayed and outmatched in the series, Shaq seems to think that it happened that way because the NBA wanted it to.
That run resulted in the first of three rings for the legendary duo and a stretch in NBA history that nobody will forget. According to Shaq, however, it was all just a part of the plan and it was rigged from the very start.
Is The NBA Truly Rigged?
Without any definitive evidence, it's impossible to say for sure that the NBA is rigging their games or anything related to the draft. In fact, most accusations of this sort are immediately shot down by the fans, media, and league itself.
In a now infamous moment back in 2012, former commissioner David Stren went off on a reporter for asking about the Draft lottery and for sowing seeds of doubt about the integrity of the league.
On the other side, however, there have been a number of cases where players outright accuse the NBA of fixing the results. Gilbert Arenas, for example, claimed the 2023 NBA Draft was deliberately set so that the Spurs could land Victor Wembanyama. In perhaps one of the oldest examples, the 2002 NBA Finals were accused of being rigged after a series of bad calls went the Lakers' way.
While the NBA does have a history with refs and gambling (mostly with disgraced former official Tim Donaghy), they've gone to great lengths to maintain their system and ensure that every team is given equal treatment. Of course, despite this, the outcome can sometimes be predictable when one team or player is just playing so much better than the rest.
More must-reads:
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- The 'Second-leading receiver by NFL team' quiz
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