“All it took was you and some dirty refs” - When Chris Webber embarrassed Shaquille O’Neal by reminding him how his LA Lakers beat the Kings in 2002

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As Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant propelled the LA Lakers to three consecutive championships, their path to glory encountered a significant hurdle during the 2002 Western Conference Finals against the Sacramento Kings.

According to Chris Webber, it was the alleged involvement of ‘dirty refs’ that prevented the Kings from ending the Lakers dynasty. Years down the drain as The Big Aristotle boasted about the Lakers’ triumph over the Kings in Game 7 at their own court, C-Webb delivered an impromptu response, which shut Shaq down – a rare moment, considering it’s exceptionally challenging to leave the 7’2” center shocked like that.

Were the Kings made to lose against the Lakers?

At the heart of the NBA’s betting scandal in 2007 was former referee Tin Donaghy. After pleading to two felony conspiracy charges, he was handed a 15-month prison sentence. Following his release, Donaghy sent shockwaves all around the league with the release of his book, ‘Personal Foul.’

In this tell-all book, he leveled shocking accusations of game-fixing within the league, singling out the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Kings and Lakers as a series that saw such actions.

Throughout the series, the Kings stood tall against the Purple and Gold. However, there were certain moments that left Sacramento fans scratching their heads.

Things started getting weird in Game 4, as the Kings dominated early, outscoring the Lakers 40-20 in the first quarter. Though Lakers’ Samaki Walker narrowed the deficit to just 14 points to close out the first half – that shot should’ve never counted.

Entering the fourth quarter, the Lakers trailed by a mere seven points. Shaq’s sudden surge in free throws (6), more than his first three quarters combined, added to the intrigue. In the end, a decisive game-winning shot by Robert Horry ensured the Lakers leveled the series.

As the Kings held a 3-2 lead to enter Game 6, the refs played a huge role in swinging the momentum back into the Lakers’ favor. Sacramento faced a staggering 31 personal fouls, with both Vlade Divac and Scot Pollard being fouled out.

If that wasn’t controversial enough, ‘Diesel’ shot 17 free throw attempts, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. More importantly, Phil Jackson saw 27 free throw attempts being registered in their favor as compared to the Kings getting only nine.

This made the majority of Kings’ fans, including C-Webb, believe that the refs did everything in their power to help shift the momentum in the Lakers’ favor.

Webber didn’t hesitate to tell the truth to Shaq

Despite Shaq’s game-high 35-point and 13-rebound performance that propelled the Lakers past the Kings in overtime in Game 7 on the latter’s home court, Chris Webber made sure O’Neal didn’t believe that it was his brilliance that allowed the Lakers to register a storybook ending against the Kings.

“All it took was you and some dirty refs,” Chris told O’Neal.

Amid the 15-time All-Star’s confident bragging about besting Webber on his home court during the 2002 WC Finals, Webber swiftly dealt a blunt reality check that either silenced the room or prompted uproarious laughter.