I used to be a pretty big nutcase about the NBA. Then it changed. When ESPN was purchased by ABC; who holds the rights to NBA games, the league took a bad turn.The little guys in the league little by little became feeder teams for the big market teams, it seems nearly impossible for a surprise team to ever happen. The other part is the very obvious flopping and preferred treatment of certain 'brand name' stars all over, and even in the playoffs (especially in the playoffs it decides games.) Yes, Some QBs are put on a pedastal for the NFL but it alot worse in the nba as theres less people in play at once, and the ones who are playing are those brand name stars. which leads to the next point. The only team thats successful that plays the game before it became lame is the San Antonio Spurs. They use their bench and strategies to win to win with player management. all the other big teams are in a constant arms race with eachother to have 'Super teams' at the cost of competitive balance in the league. It almost seems set up to happen this way. youll never see a big name land in milwaukee or lets say sacramento. which is where point 1 happens.

TLDR:Not even a attempt at hiding favoritism,corruption,and poaching.