omfg people
saying "try not to eject star players" is far from fixing games
The kings blew that series, not the refs. Was there a call or two that could have gone either way? Sure -heck, I was rooting hard for the Kings myself - but the refs didn't make C.Webb vanish is games 6 and 7, he did that all by himself. Peja's shooting went south too - was that a fix?
The crap with the Rockets series was a response to Cuban's antics, where he was charting officials calls, etc - the NBA just made sure that their refs were all on the same page because the officiated was under such scrutiny.
As for the current series - how many times did the Lakers take the ball to the hoop in game 2? They pretty much took nothing but jump shots - which is their fault, not the officials - you saw in game 3 the Lakers be much more agressive going to the basket - and as a result they got more fouls callled. As for why Powe got so many free throws - a better question is - why is he getting the ball at the basket so much? Keep him off the offensive glass or don't leave him to double whomever is driving to the basket, and he won't get so many free throws - when he does get the ball, they are practically tackling him, it's not like the calls he's getting are bad calls - he's certainly not a star player anyway, so it's not like the refs are giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Officiating basketball games is hard - and yes, the 'makeup call' has been in practice for as long as I've been watching NBA games, and yes, star players likely get calls that non-star players don't - but it's part of the game.
This is a guy who got caught up in the wrong crowd, owed people a lot of money, helped some games go certain ways - cover or not cover point spreads for the most part - and he got caught. This doesn't mean the entire NBA has a problem, or that other refs are doing similar things.
Personally, I'd like to see the NBA and college ball do away with charging inside the lane - charging/blocking is a very tough call to make, and to me, most of the charges are not really playing D, it's just getting in the way of someone who beat the guy defending them.