Adam Silver in Hot Waters for Early Action Against Nikola Jokic & Nuggets As Game 7 with 9 Minutes Left

Is the NBA scripted? Any NBA fan would have wondered at least once, and the conspiracy theories in the deep corners of the internet don’t help either. However, a new lapse by the league has once again pushed such theories to the front, and commissioner Adam Silver will have to battle them. Around 54 minutes before the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 7 was set to commence at the Paycom Center, the official X account of NBA memes put out a post. According to it, the official Facebook account of the NBA had updated its cover photo, and the new one promoted the playoffs by highlighting Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Jalen Brunson, and… Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Well, what is weird about that, you might be thinking? The odd thing is that the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Indiana Pacers, and the New York Knicks had surely made it to the Conference Finals. However, the competition between the Nuggets and the OKC remained. So, how could the NBA have put OKC’s star player on the front even before Game 7 began?

Things might not have been too suspicious if the Nuggets had won the game. However, not only did Nikola Jokic and co. lose, they lost by a 125-93 score, aka a 32-point margin! As ‘Bleacher Report’ highlighted, the Denver Nuggets had emptied their bench down 30+ POINTS in a Game 7. Emptied when there were nine minutes left in the game! Either Adam Silver has a time machine, or he is just really good at predicting the future. This eeriness was a more interesting topic of discussion for NBA fans than the game itself.

On the other hand, there are fans who also deemed it a simple mistake. Perhaps the designer made those creatives in advance, so that they could be posted once the winner of Nuggets versus OKC was declared, but ended up uploading them earlier than intended. The NBA has not commented on the situation. However, that’s not the only issue that took place during Game 7. There was something more that irked the Nuggets’ fans as well as Jokic.

Scott Foster, Josh Tiven, James Williams, and Pat Fraher officiated the game. This is the same crew that officiated Game 2, where Jokic was ejected due to fouls. What’s even more interesting is that Foster has quite a reputation within basketball circles for attempting to save teams who are losing their playoff series. So it seems Jokic was not surprised that Game 7 didn’t turn out in his team’s favor. “I mean this game was basically similar to second game. We turned the ball over. We didn’t make enough shots, they were aggressing, they were running into position… You know, two same official as the second game, so it’s kind of similar to the second game.”

All in all, there were a lot of things that didn’t go in the Nuggets’ favor. But announcing the winner minutes before the game was done left fans shocked. They took to social media to share their thoughts. What did they say?

NBA Fans react to Adam Silver giving up hope on the Nuggets before Game 7’s conclusion!

One social media user wrote, “This is crazy”. Yes, well, what else can be said? If you’re trying to convince someone that the NBA is not scripted, and then provide an update like that picture, eyebrows are bound to be raised.

Another individual wrote, “Yeah this s–t more scripted than WWE”. Ouch! You know that you have lost the confidence of the fanbase when they compare the alleged ‘script’ of basketball to be on the same level as the WWE. After all, it is no secret that WWE shows are mostly scripted, with some real-life rivalries being used to enhance the on-ring drama.

The NBA could have avoided these claims recently. That is, if it weren’t for the same claims popping up less than a week ago. This was seen when the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA lottery and will now go on to have the first pick in the 2025 draft. Going into the lottery, however, the Mavericks only had a mere 1.8% chance of winning it. According to ESPN Research, the 1.8% is the biggest jump by any team in lottery history.

This led to many fans questioning the validity of it all, through remarks like “the nba is never beating the rigged allegations”, and “nba rigged”. After all, the Dallas Mavericks being given this favor months after they made headlines for trading away their star player, Luka Doncic, was too big of a coincidence.

One individual wrote, “Its true. It has been rigged. Game 7s exist just to make more money off the fans”. This individual hasn’t been the only one to claim that some series allegedly get extended to create excitement/generate revenue. The same claim has been promoted by many over the years.

Before Game 4 of the Celtics-Knicks series, the NBA announced that Monday night’s Crew Chief was going to be 29-year veteran Scott Foster. Foster is one of the most experienced officials in the league. However, over time, he has obtained the nickname “the extender”.

This stems from growing fan speculation that Scott Foster only gets assigned to playoff games when the league allegedly wants the series extended. That theory gained more traction when reports surfaced that Foster would officiate the pivotal Game 7 between the Nuggets and OKC. If Adam Silver wants to silence the conspiracy chatter, assigning Foster to these kinds of matchups isn’t helping—it’s only adding fuel to the fire.

One social media user wrote, “You gotta be daft to think this s–t isn’t on rails.” Yikes! When a fanbase is this sure, then the need is there for some damage control to be undertaken.

Overall, most reactions shared one common thread—serious doubt over whether Game 7 between the Nuggets and OKC was entirely above board. As fans, we may never know the full truth. But this isn’t the first time those whispers of rigging have surfaced—and with more high-stakes postseason battles ahead, it likely won’t be the last. What do you think?