Tonight, the San Antonio Spurs will face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the 2026 NBA Western Conference Finals. The Thunder team currently leads the series 3-2.
But a viral conspiracy theory claims that Game 5 was rigged in Oklahoma City’s favor.
Between several controversial refereeing calls — including a missed goaltending violation, a denied coach’s challenge, and a massive free-throw disparity — as well as Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama’s mysterious shutdown after dominating earlier in the series and a Google “glitch” that prematurely listed Thunder vs. Knicks as the Finals matchup, many are convinced this was a rigged outcome designed to keep the Thunder alive and boost playoff viewership.
BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock believes this conspiracy theory is true.
“What tranquilizer did they shoot into Victor Wembanyama? … What were Tony Brothers and the DEI refereeing crew doing last night? What were the San Antonio Spurs doing last night?” he asks. “Adam Silver, I got some questions.”
“The NBA and Adam Silver need content,” Whitlock says, speculating that Wembanyama was told by his coaches to “conserve [his] energy” because the “refs aren’t going to allow [the Spurs] to win Game 5.”
“That’s what it looked like last night, particularly in the first half when Wembanyama couldn’t even be bothered occasionally to run full court and to even enter into the Spurs’ offense, when Victor Wembanyama hung out, 7-foot-5, spent the entire first half and most of the game just hanging out casually around the three-point line,” he explains.
To the counterargument that Wembanyama was just “worn out” or had “an off night,” Whitlock contends that “superstars” like Wembanyama may have “bad shooting nights,” “a bunch of turnovers,” and even make “a critical error at the end of the game,” but they never just stop “giving a sincere effort.”
The officiating crew’s performance was on par with Wembanyama’s, he adds, highlighting Spurs coach Mitch Johnson’s denied coach’s challenge on a play where replays clearly showed the ball going out of bounds off Thunder player Chet Holmgren’s foot.
“I’m not some crazy ‘every game is rigged’ conspiracy theorist, but you can’t tell me that game last night was on the up and up,” Whitlock says.
To hear his full game analysis, watch the episode above.
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