Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 9:00 am  |  85 responses

Nugget: ‘Lakers paid $50K to win Game 5′

by Marcel Mutoni

Prior to the festivities, it wasn’t too hard to guess that the Lakers would get the calls on their home floor in the pivotal fifth game of the Western Conference Finals. That’s just the way these things typically work.

Evidently, the Denver Nuggets don’t agree. And according to one soul in powder blue (who shall remain nameless, largely because he asked the reporter he spoke with not to identify him), the Lakers got the win last night the old fashioned way: they bought it.

The Denver Post reports:

The NBA has an integrity problem, as shrill and annoying as a referee’s whistle. If the competitors don’t trust the truth in the final score, why should we? Did the Nuggets lose to the Los Angeles Lakers 103-94, or were they robbed by referees who gave favorable calls to a marquee franchise that pumps up television ratings?

Does the league want to see superstar Kobe Bryant in the NBA Finals rather than the tattooed bad boys of Denver? In an accusation that goes straight to the heart of the sport’s integrity, one member of the Nuggets shook his head in disgust after the game, and could not believe how cheap it was for Los Angeles to buy a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals.

“The Lakers paid $50,000 to win that game. They got their money’s worth,” said a Denver player, not wanting to be identified for fear of retribution from the league.

Mr. Anonymous is of course talking about the $50k total Phil Jackson and the Lakers were fined after his criticism of the refs following Game 4.

L.A. shot exactly 5 more free throws than Denver last night, were whistled for 8 less fouls, and were able to dominate the paint for much of the second half (with Nene fouling out in the fourth quarter.) And now the Nuggets are on the brink of elimination.

Sounds like money well spent to me.

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  • http://www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

    AllenP FTW.

  • BBALL

    Maybe Kobe will celebrate last nights win with another twenty year old behind his wifes back. He’s always been a great person as well as a great player. I hope his wife divorces him after they lose game seven.

  • bakers’ dozen

    Melo gets beat up in the post way too often. oh, and it’s just NENE, he dropped teh Hilario 3 years ago.

  • messofelegance

    desperation is a stinky cologne.

  • http://phoenixsunsrising.blogspot.com Hersey

    I guess they paid Denver to come out shooting bricks to start the 4th quarter too. It takes a real coward to say that and a bigger coward to write it in the paper. You lost. If you don’t like it- play better.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Blinguo

    Denver = tattooed bad boys? Then the Lakers are the bad tattooed boys. You all know Kobe’s/Walton’s, now Browns, but did you see Farmar’s shoulder ink last night? Those aren’t touching the Birdman wings.

  • kwame brown

    if this is what being posted as news im never reading slam again

  • WutWut

    Turdman looks like a monster, with his nasty ass tattoos… yuuuuuckkkk!

    QQ Laker haters.

  • http://http//www.youtube.com The Promise

    People, this is a joke. Do you want to know why Denver lost last night? It was NOT because of a ref that got paid, or something stupid like that. Its because George Karl got outcoached, period. He outsmarted himself by giving Melo waayyy to long of a rest, and by the time he sent him back in, they were down by 11, and he was cold from sitting on the bench so long. It got them completely out of their rhythm, and it pretty much got them beat. So, stop this bullcrap about refs getting paid off. I’m sick of hearing it. May the best team win.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ RV

    vic21, pretty much…but the change only will last a game or two, you have to complain again after that

  • basketballallah

    Denver’s style is an offense to the Basketball Gods. Last night the Nuggets felt the stinging punishment. Coach Karl crying in the bright light of a teevee press conference, selecting Pau Gasol of all people as his sacrifice to the mouth-breathers aka Laker Haters aka NBA Conspiracy theorists. The tough nugget to swallow, the reason it ‘worked’ for Phil was Phil was right.

  • switzerland

    You’re all crybabies. Laker fans: act like you’ve been there before. Nugget Fans: Keep Kobe away from your women. Basketball is entertainment, if your team isn’t enteraining, then you lost that half of the game.

  • http://www.alllooksame.com Tarzan Cooper

    it only takes a couple of bad calls. chauncey’s second foul was obviously bogus. that was an and1, so thats extra important, not just a foul, but points. melo got hacked a couple times with no calls. and nene’s sixth was wrong. the refs didnt exactly steal the game from the nuggs, just made it a 10 pt game instead of 2 or 3. however, it was fun watching jr smith poke the ball away from kobe like 5 times.

  • ifeelsoyoung

    DENVER IS NOT GOING TO WIN THE SERIES. Carmello is salyt cause Birdman is taking his thunder and no matter how many times Jr poked the ball away from Kobe, he will still never be as good as Kobe! And guess what? I don’t really care for Kobe, but when you gotta stick your foot out to stop a player, then they are the truth!

  • bill breedley

    calls favored the lakers last night but not as blatant as calls cavs are getting on the road. still without the favorable calls, lakers would have still won the game. Lamar Odom was a beast last night.

  • http://groups.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=groups.groupProfile&groupID=104091021&Mytoken=DDF795E1-BAA9-4AA4-A658D26EF5D70607132654176 clapzilla

    The Only Fishy Thing I Noticed With The Refs Last Night Was How They Called Nene. Every Other Player Was Allowed To Mug Everyone In Sight, But Nene Couldn’t Do Anything. His 4th Foul Was When He Fell On Defense And Gasol Stumbled Into Him, Then His 6th Foul Was The Same Situation Reversed Where Gasol Fell And Nene Stumbled Into Him. Both Went Against Nene. His 5th Didn’t Even Make Gasol Move! ESPN Skipped The Chance At A Replay, Even Though They Showed Replays On 500 Other Fouls. The Nuggets Tend To Go As Nene Goes, Putting Him On The Bench In Such A Ridiculous Way Is Bound To Mess With Them. That’s How The Refs May or May Not Have Influenced The Outcome of The Game! Don’t Look For The Obvious Signs!

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    vic21 Posted: May.28 at 1:05 pm
    So if Im a coach and want for example my star player allowed to get away with fouls I have to complain in a press conference and wait for the bill to come in?
    ________________________________________________
    These days we should think of post game fines as… a tax invoice. All of a sudden they become a tax write-off…?!?
    O_o

  • Josh

    Game wasn’t biased, that’s crap. A couple of calls went against the Nuggets, but in what game in the history of sport in general has there never been at least one or two bad calls. You still get them with Booth reviews! Its a part of the game, and the better team is the one that can get over this fact and play ball. Nene yelling at refs certainly doesn’t aid the team, referees are humans too, and what human won’t slightly resent someone yelling at them? Its simple guys, keep your mouths shut! Its funny how its only ever a problem when a team that traditionally does well gets a few calls that the conspiracies start popping up… It was a great physical game yesterday, and i thought it was refereed really well, they let them play. Great series so far, well oficiated.

  • Josh

    @ clapzilla. Dude, You Don’t Need To Push Shift For The First Letter of Every Word. A Question Too, Why The Capitals On “The”, “To” And “On”, But Not On “of”, “or”? I Can’t Place It Man…

  • http://Nicekicks.com MeloMan22

    Y cant they just play the next game with no fouls

  • don

    NBA is milking Kobe’s popularity until his game declines in a year or two. Yipee. I can’t wait. No more fakers in the finals!!

  • thatskool24

    i wish we could buy wins LA would win 70+ a yr and sweep every round and win titles every single year…ohhh dreams!!…but in reality the lakers will be in the Finals because of thier offensive prowess, Kobe Bryant, and them put up whatever defensive effort they can…and Clevland will be fishn before june…KB24 v. D12

  • vizzo

    if ur a ball player u dont let the refs control the outcome of the damn game.u execute down the stretch and play smart which the cavs an the nuggets havnt been doin wen it comes down to it .

  • big bad boss

    50k only? if the nuggets wants to be paid they should have asked for more, man, their luxury tax are way way off to 50grand.. sore losers!!

  • Alan

    as usual, a player talking about referees… after a lose. never after a W.

  • belloblock

    nuggets are some b@tches! they the type that wont shake hands after they lose this series..

  • http://nbainchina.com NBA in China

    Are you freaking kidding me…LeBron’s been pretty much gettting automatic whistles whenever he takes a dribble while Kobe’s been getting pretty much nothing..and people here saying the opposite..what a joke.

  • chazz michael michaels

    man this is bs yall r jus haters becuz a team that got swept last year is in the way of the lakers getting to tha finals! for real tho lakers got like 5 “blocks” in the last minutes of game 5. not all of those could have been true “blocks” but watevr refs

  • http://http//www.youtube.com The Promise

    Like I said yesterday, no bias, no refs fixing games. Denver lost their composure, therefore, they lost the game. And, again, may the best team win.

  • scottyp

    that game wasn’t that bad… if corrupt is the topic then let’s talk about game 6 of the lakers kings series. that was the biggest corruption in the nba i have ever seen. lakers will always get the calls, but i have never seen such nonsense in my life. It made me less of a fan to the nba. kings lost game 7, but game 6 was basically run by don king and not david stern. o, also, if the lottery is legit then why dont we get to see it happen?????

  • COOOOPPP

    i think its obvious that home teams and especially prime time teams with star players get the calls. its been like that for years and recently has been really obvious. its just sad when you can predict how a series can go game by game and we always say the same thing that the home team or star team will get the calls at home. there is no other sport that can say that. baseball is a seven games series but we dont go around saying the umps will give the strikes to the yanks or sox or in football where the refs will throw flags on every play. theres just not enough opportunities in those sports.

    the thing that really convinced me was when the lakers got 27 free throws in the 4th quarter in game 6 against the kings in 2002 and im a laker fan. right there made me sick. i dont care if the celts, lakers, cavs win the next 5 titles. i just dont take it serious as much as i used to. even the trades of kg to boston and pau to lakers were fishy as well.

  • Mike – Phoenix

    I can only laugh. Anybody who has watched all the games will attest that the Laers are not getting the calls. In fact I have seen at least 10 fouls on Kobe that HAVENT been called and about 6 more on Gasol. So to say the Lakers BOUGHT that game is disrespecting the Lakers and making excuses. I guess the Lakers took it “personally” and went into the nuggets HOUSE and flat out embarrassed them in a blow out eliminatioon game! I Like Mellow and Billups great players! But a couple other guys on that team, one with great talent, have no class at all and the Lakers didn’t forget that as they drubbed em in Denver… buh bye nuggets..buh bye whiners. The cream always rises to the top…its just physics

  • Mike – Phoenix

    “scottyp Posted: May.29 at 8:23 pm
    that game wasn’t that bad… if corrupt is the topic then let’s talk about game 6 of the lakers kings series. that was the biggest corruption in the nba i have ever seen. lakers will always get the calls, but i have never seen such nonsense in my life. It made me less of a fan to the nba. kings lost game 7, but game 6 was basically run by don king and not david stern. o, also, if the lottery is legit then why dont we get to see it happen????? ”

    You guys are still whining about that? Geez

  • Mike – Phoenix

    Marcel Mutoni… you know how pathetic this article is don’t you? Uh, repeat. Pathetic.

    Lakers spank Denver on their home court in elimination game… So much for your foolish comments and article.

    George Karl and Martin look like morons this morning. All those cheap shot quips trying to sway the refs in game 6 didn’t make up for being the inferior team… Denver lost TWO of 3 games on their home court this series…and they got the majority of not only the calls but the “non calls” in the series ( even in LA ) as did Houston. I know, I watch every game.

    Stick to selling used cars or whatever it is you do, and leave the Journalism to people who have talent. Hack

  • cordovarudy

    Well what do you say now, “Mr. accuser” of the “Nuggets” losing game 6 in DENVER? I take it the refs didn’t get paid and additional $50K? Just admit it the Lakers are a better team, although I am a Nugget fan and always will be, why try to redicule yourself about a $50K payout? “BAD MEDIA” or least admit as to who indicated this ref payout, any names???

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