Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was assessed a flagrant 1 foul following a Game 4 incident involving him and LeBron James. The two players got tangled up which resulted in Green ending up on the floor. James decided to step over and straddle the Warriors forward which led to Green taking a swing at James’ groin area.

Although Green was not assessed a flagrant foul during the game, the league went back and looked at the tape and gave him a flagrant 1. That decision gave Green four flagrant points which resulted in a one-game suspension. Green would go on to miss Game 5 and the Warriors would then lose the game 112-97, which sends the series back to Cleveland for Game 6.

Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy believes it was all a scheme concocted by the league to push the series longer than five games. During an interview with SI Now, Donaghy says that he doesn’t think Green would’ve been suspended had the Warriors been down in the series or if it was tied.

“I think when you look at the overt acts that Green has committed before, they were definitely more severe than this act, and yet he’s going to end up with a flagrant foul and suspension because of it,” Donaghy said. “In the past, I believe it was disregarded because [the Warriors] were down in the series. Here, they’re up in the series, so I think it’s a situation where, with that, it gives Cleveland a better chance of prolonging the series.”

Donaghy would later go on to say that the NBA would instruct referees to favor a team that was down in a series back when he was still officiating.

“Definitely indirectly with the tape sessions that took place and how they would show you plays that they wanted you to concentrate on in the game that,” Donaghy said. “It was always a situation where the team down in the series was going to benefit from those calls.”

It might be hard to believe these comments as they come from a guy who was involved in one of the biggest gambling schemes in professionals sports history, but in all honesty, it wouldn’t shock me. Green committed more egregious infractions during the Warriors’ series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the league chose not to suspend him because the Warriors likely would’ve been eliminated.

By pushing this series to a Game 6, or possibly Game 7, the league creates more intrigue, suspense and most importantly, more revenue. After all, that’s what sports are all about, right?