Obviously Trevor Ariza Made This Shot, What is the NBA Hiding?

Last night, with 10.7 remaining on the clock, Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza made a game tying three pointer in a nationally televised contest against the Atlanta Hawks.

It was, undeniably, a three point shot. Ariza gets the ball from harden on the wing, takes a single dribble to shake Tim Hardaway, Jr., pulls up with an attractive legs-spread fadeaway. The ball arcs through the air, hits the back of the rim for a satisfying "THUMP," and falls through the rim. The Houston crowd cheers because three points go on the board and a we have a tie game. No matter what current forces in our world tell you, you can plainly see what happened. Your senses do not lie to you for fun.

So, then, why is everyone, from the refs on the court, the players on the floor, the announcers, and even elements of the crowd, acting like that shot didn't go down? Why are bloggers ignoring the biggest NBA story of the year, that the league, for some reason, decided that a made shot in the waning moments of a game, simply wouldn't count?

The NBA wants you to move on. Regard this "missed shot" as a mere curiosity, as your eyes move onto the next story. "LeBron is irate in public." "Are the Blazers operating a propaganda machine?" "What is the latest sick diss Coach Gregg uncorked on Trump?" They want you to ignore what you saw with your eyes and heard with your ears: that The Shot went in, and the world acted like it didn't.

But you won't be led, like cattle up the ladder, off to be deposited into a buzzsaw that collects your sweet meats. You will open your eyes, open your mind, and ask one single question that lies at the heart of all respectable event analysis: WHO BENEFITS?

Is it Ariza himself? Why did he go along with this dance? Is he driven, sexually or otherwise, to deny himself the pleasures of life, the moments of triumph that get most of us through the day? Was he paid? Does he have "Money Problems?" Is there some dirt, somewhere, that someone is using as leverage to keep him docile?

Was it Harden? An MVP candidate—averaging 28 points and nearly 12 assists a game—certainly would look less essential if one of his teammates created a shot off the dribble and drilled it to give the team a victory. Maybe this is an elaborately constructed false flag to make him seem more valuable than he actually is? After all: any shot Ariza "Doesn't make" is one that, the public might posit, Harden "definitely would." Ariza takes a hit, but James…James gets off scot-free…

The Hawks, sitting at .580 and angling for a top four seed in the East, would have no incentive to act like the shot went in, even when it did. No incentive, of course, except the spirit of fair play, the love of competition, and a love of the game AS IT HAPPENED, AND WE ALL SAW IT HAPPEN, AND WE WON'T CLOSE OUR FUCKING EYES TO THIS, WE WON'T REMAIN SILENT, as opposed to everyone involved in last night's disgrace, IN THE FIXED NBA—THE RIGGED NBA.

Oh yeah, Adam, you thought you could hide from the TRUTH!? But we remember Tim Donaghy, your mentor's tool, the one who put the Lakers on top? We know what kind of flimflam goes on in your office, buddy. We will not be complacent and silent in the face of another fixed fight, we won't sit idly by while you turn basketball into wrestling without the violence, a series of ups and down meant to exalt the star and denigrate the noble role player, the Trevor Arizas, the Jordan Crawfords (Exiled from the league, toiling in Grand Rapids, all for the crime of dunking on NBA golden boy LeBron James…) the Ivan Johnsons…

You think we wouldn't find this picture of you "taking a selfie" with the former Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, and his wife, whose name is also, presumably, Ash, which is a sassy and brassy shortening of Ashley!? You think we can't see you taking your orders straight from the Government, memorizing them all, with that perfect robot brain of yours? Yeah we know, buddy, we noticed that you never eat because food just clunks up your face gears. But not even your mechanical grotesqueries will distract us from those orders, the ones that tell you who will win and who will lose, who will be rewarded in the New Order and who will be left sideways, embarrassed and broken, the subject of workaday blogpost content about "Shots that look like they went down, but actually didn't," and who will be left victorious and exalted in the shadow of their teammates defeat.

But…why? Why does the Military want James Harden to be MVP? How does James Harden lifting that trophy and giving a mushy speech about his teammates help the aims and goals of the Military Industrial complex?

…Open up to me, James…Show me the secrets you contain…