If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. The Los Angeles Lakers have been getting a lot of help from officials, or at least is seems that way, to make up for lost ground in the NBA playoff race, currently leaving the Utah Jazz behind for the 8th and final ticket. If the first conspiracy theory wasn’t enough, the proof, numbers and videos from wins keep on coming.

The 2013 NBA Playoffs Conspiracy wasn’t enough. Their win over the Golden State Warriors, a tragic game for the Lakers because they lost Kobe Bryant to a season, and possibly even career-ending injury, reeked of terrible foul shots and what people have been claiming all along. Someone up top is sending messages to referees to do all they can and put the Lakers in the postseason.

One of the finest examples of the weird foul-calling by the referees (Monty McCutchen, Kevin Cutler, Bennie Adams) was the play in which Bryant got injured for the third time and left the court. Hardly a bump, mostly a slip by Kobe Bryant. And yet a foul was called. Each time the Warriors tried to make their way through a screen, a foul was called. The softest of touches became free throw shots if the Lakers missed the shot they were “fouled on.”

An alarming chart made by lurker_sc2. Yes, the Lakers pound the ball in the paint to Dwight Howard, and Hack-a-Dwight does help them get to the line more than others. Kobe Bryant is a superstar and gets more calls going his way. But the amount of games late in the season with large discrepancies between the two teams is another clue in the conspiracy theory and case against the NBA.

The best evidence is looking at the videos, because numbers often don’t tell the whole story. The video and footage from their win over the Golden State Warriors makes us understand that the Lakers shouldn’t have shot 34 more free throws than the Warriors. They just got the calls to help them, just like almost every game in the last couple of months, which might suggest someone made a decision to start helping them get closer to the playoffs.

The golden rule remains – if you want to beat the Lakers and avoid getting caught up in an official controversy, simply build a large enough lead. Sounds idiotic, but that’s the truth, because it seems to be common knowledge that if the Lakers are involved in a close on, they don’t have to rely on their abilities alone to win the game.