Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to the franchise’s first 3-peat ever since the shift from Minneapolis. But could the number have stayed to zero for LA had the Lakers not won the Western Conference Finals in season 2002? The controversy around Game 6 between the Sacramento Kings and Lakers in the series became huge after allegations against the officiating process. And it seems the wounds of ex-Kings star Mike Bibby from the 2002 series have not healed yet.

“We did win the series. They just took it from us,” he said, appearing 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 other members of the LA Lakers, he would see defeat on their faces.

“I knew it was over with. I was in LA,” Bibby recalled. During the podcast, he further faced the question of what became the turning point for the Kings’ loss. Show host Udonis Haslem interrupted, hinting towards the officiating calls to be the turning point. However, Bibby did say that “it’s to be seen, not heard”. Still talking about it, the 46-year-old revisited the phase where he believed there was nothing that could prevent them from winning the conference finals.

On similar lines, he recalled his conversation with Chuck Brown, who told him back then if a particular crew came for officiating, that would be it for the Kings. But Bibby was unfazed by Brown’s subtle warning. And it so happened that the same crew came for officiating, as stated by Bibby on the podcast. Still unaffected by it, little did he know that Game 6 had different plans for the Kings.

Infamous referee Tim Donaghy talks about the foul play in 2002 Game 6 between the Lakers and Kings

Notably, Donaghy has himself had a bad reputation as a ref for being involved in gambling scam in the NBA. He even faced a 15-month sentence for it. And in an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole, Donaghy stated he knows in his mind that the Kings should have a ring on their finger.

The ex-NBA ref further termed the Kings as the best team in the league that year. “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, but a fixer of sorts. Tim claimed Bevatta to have helped in changing the Game 6 outcome. Notably, the Game 6 officiating staff included Bavetta, Ted Bernhardt, and Bob Delaney.

And there were multiple contentious calls in the series, a lot of which favored the Lakers, which fueled the speculations of game-fixing. “He was put on Game 6 to force Game 7,” Donaghy said of Bevatta. He stated that the intention was to force Game 7, where the Kings would’ve won because of home-court advantage. But the Lakers eventually got the best of the Kings in Game 7 and moved on to the finals. Had Game 6 been free of this controversy, the Kings could have had their first and only NBA championship.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.