In my opinion it seems like all these sport media outlets are trying to break up the rockets. They feel like the Rockets are a big threat to the Lakers next season and we know ESPN always talks about Los Angeles and New York. Its normal for players to have some sort of tension, especially two alpha dogs.
Very self-aware of you to call it a conspiracy theory since most of those are pretty out there. Does anyone honestly believe the NBA or the commissioner or the refs are in the bag for one team over another? I think it's fun to joke around about such things but to me it's just an ongoing joke.
This is as close to missing the forest for the trees as it gets. There are parties *in the NBA* that have interests in seeing the Rockets have a bad offseason, season, and playoffs. There are grudges from former employees, players, and coaches. There are grudges from people who were passed over for certain jobs. There are people that like messing with reporters by feeding them obvious bs (apparently). There are just so many layers of interests at work before you even get to a single media member for a media conspiracy to be at work. Now, are there members of the media who don't like Houston? Obviously. Will they write and print things anti-Houston without batting an eye? You bet. Does their hatred get in the way of thinking clearly and rationally about the things they say, write, and/or publish? Yup. Will media outlets publish outright nonsense because its really easy to rile up the Harden hate? Yeah its probably a division of ESPN's social media team. But that aint a conspiracy. It's just people following their own egos and clicks.
Chris and James could just meet up or post a vid instantly denying this stuff. They have their issues and I’m guessing it’s serious. Probably in the middle of what the rockets and outlets say
I feel like the media has picked us to be the villains of the league. If so, the Rockets need to embrace it. Think about it. They don't like our players, coach, GM, style of play, and even the city. So, forget about the haters its just us the Bad Guys. #SayHelloToTheBadGuys
The Earth is flat. We've never been to the moon (but if we had we would have found it was flat too). And Chris Paul demanded a trade.
I really do think that certain refs dislike certain players and allow it to cloud their judgement, resulting in unfair officiating. I don't think it's a league conspiracy thing, I think it's a human nature thing. If I'm a ref and I really hate that one guy who's always barking in my face and telling me the calls are wrong, I'll probably make some tough calls against him, whether its conscious or unconscious. Not sure whether this qualifies.