Kobe Bryant and Lakers’ Controversial 2002 WCF Win Haunts Ex-Kings Star to This Day: “They Just Took It From Us”

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to the franchise’s first 3-peat ever for the reason that shift from Minneapolis. However may the quantity have stayed to zero for LA had the Lakers not gained the Western Convention Finals in season 2002? The controversy round Sport 6 between the Sacramento Kings and Lakers within the collection turned large after allegations towards the officiating course of. And it appears the injuries of ex-Kings star Mike Bibby from the 2002 collection haven’t healed but.

“We did win the series. They just took it from us,” he stated, showing on ‘The OGs‘ podcast. The 46-year-old mentioned they were leading by 20 points in almost all the games they won. Bibby further claimed if anyone would go back and have a look at the faces of Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and different members of the LA Lakers, he would see defeat on their faces.

“I knew it was over with. I was in LA,” Bibby recalled. Throughout the podcast, he additional confronted the query of what turned the turning level for the Kings’ loss. Present host Udonis Haslem interrupted, hinting in the direction of the officiating calls to be the turning level. Nonetheless, Bibby did say that “it’s to be seen, not heard”. Nonetheless speaking about it, the 46-year-old revisited the part the place he believed there was nothing that would forestall them from profitable the convention finals.

On related strains, he recalled his dialog with Chuck Brown, who instructed him again then if a specific crew got here for officiating, that will be it for the Kings. However Bibby was unfazed by Brown’s delicate warning. And it so occurred that the identical crew got here for officiating, as acknowledged by Bibby on the podcast. Nonetheless unaffected by it, little did he know that Sport 6 had completely different plans for the Kings.

Notorious referee Tim Donaghy talks concerning the foul play in 2002 Sport 6 between the Lakers and Kings

Notably, Donaghy has himself had a foul repute as a ref for being concerned in playing rip-off within the NBA. He even confronted a 15-month sentence for it. And in an interview with NBC Sports activities Bay Space’s Monte Poole, Donaghy acknowledged he is aware of in his thoughts that the Kings ought to have a hoop on their finger.

The ex-NBA ref additional termed the Kings as the very best staff within the league that yr. “That Game 6 was definitely a situation where towards the end of that game they got robbed,” he added. As per Donaghy’s claims, referee Dick Bevatta was no saint himself, however a fixer of types. Tim claimed Bevatta to have helped in altering the Sport 6 final result. Notably, the Sport 6 officiating workers included Bavetta, Ted Bernhardt, and Bob Delaney.

And there have been a number of contentious calls within the collection, plenty of which favored the Lakers, which fueled the speculations of game-fixing. “He was put on Game 6 to force Game 7,” Donaghy stated of Bevatta. He acknowledged that the intention was to drive Sport 7, the place the Kings would’ve gained due to home-court benefit. However the Lakers ultimately obtained the very best of the Kings in Sport 7 and moved on to the finals. Had Sport 6 been freed from this controversy, the Kings may have had their first and solely NBA championship.

Keep tuned for extra such updates. And to comply with what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say concerning the notorious Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and extra, watch this video.