"Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals is the site of the most infamous conspiracy theory in recent NBA history. The Sacramento Kings were playing the Lakers for a trip to the Finals down in L.A., and despite losing on a revolting, miraculous Robert Horry buzzer-beater in Game 4, they won Game 5 and were in good position to win Game 6."
"Had they done so, they would have booked a ticket to beat the crap out of a rotten New Jersey Nets team and won the first championship in Sacramento history. That era of Kings basketball, some of the prettiest hoops ever played, would have been remembered as a stylistic peak and the team's future could have been glorious. Instead, they lost Game 6 because, the story goes, the referees and the league office conspired to ensure the Lakers made the Finals instead."
"While the question of whether or not the game was fixed is interesting, the bigger consequence is why so many people continue to believe the game was rigged against the Kings. There are infamous bouts of bad officiating every year in the NBA, important games won and lost on blown calls are not rare even now in the replay era."
Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals produced a lasting conspiracy belief after the Sacramento Kings lost to the Los Angeles Lakers despite entering the game in position to clinch the series. The Kings had lost Game 4 on Robert Horry’s buzzer-beater but won Game 5, and a Game 6 victory would have sent them to the Finals against the New Jersey Nets, possibly delivering Sacramento’s first championship. Belief in a fix persists because perceived league business incentives favored L.A. and because recurring high-profile officiating errors make manipulation plausible to many fans, reshaping the Kings’ legacy and intensifying frustration over the franchise’s subsequent decline.
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