“The ball never lies.”

It’s one of the oldest sayings in playground basketball.

You have a question about whose ball it is? Shoot for it. The ball never lies.

You’re calling a foul on that last play? We’ll shoot, then. The ball doesn’t lie.

The karmic saying almost seems to be a joke at times; we take it nonchalantly when we talk about it, but deep down, maybe we really do believe that the ball never lies. At least I do. After all, it’s really just a sports guy’s way of saying that the universe will unfold as it should.

So when the Phoenix Suns took the court during Wednesday’s Game 5 against the Spurs, it was only natural to think they would pull out the victory. After the NBA and David Stern made a horrible decision in suspending Boris Diaw and Amare Stoudemire for one game each, compromising the integrity of not only their league but the game itself as well, it was only natural to root for the Suns.

I sat on my couch, watching the game and repeating the mantra — “The ball never lies.” — to my friends. I really did believe it at the time.

And after Nash and his comrades played inspired defense to take a double-digit lead, I was sure that the universe was acting out in the spirit of justice. The Suns’ fans, organization and players were not going to be stopped by the ugly bureaucracy we know as the NBA.

But Bruce Bowen came up big, hitting a three-pointer to block out the Suns in a remarkable Spurs comeback. The Phoenix crowd was deflated and left with an empty, hollow feeling, void of the justice we had envisioned for Nash and company.

And that’s not to say that I think the Spurs are to blame for this whole mess. They’re just playing their game and working the system.

Bruce Bowen might be the dirtiest player in the game, jump-kicking people in the throat and bloodying opponents, but he understands how the NBA works. You can’t blame Manu Ginobili for flopping across the floor like a fish — it’s his Argentinean soccer instincts creeping up on him. And you surely can’t blame Tim Duncan for all of his lamenting, face contortions and puppy-dog faces throughout a single game. He employs his funeral act to perfection, knowing that he’s going to get the calls when he needs them.

And that’s what’s wrong with the NBA today. Like a lot of other sports institutions, the league has degenerated into nothing more than a bureaucratic system. What makes the game great gets lost in all the mess.

The Suns-Spurs series should have been a classic. There are great players on each team, a myriad of storylines and ultimately, great basketball to be played. Yet the NBA had to screw that up by unfairly suspending Diaw and Stoudemire, while handing the Spurs’ Robert Horry a two-game suspension.

And you know what the worst part is? The fans can’t do anything about it.

Sure, plenty of fans have made vows to quit watching the NBA and leave the league forever, but they’ll come back. They always do.

Right now, though, we’re stuck with the product that the NBA executives throw at us. Somehow, someway, they do their best to try and ruin some of the best athletes in the world playing the best game in the world (yeah, I said it). And Stern and his cohorts are great at their jobs.

As fans, I think we’re all just tired of the evil people in sports. The George Steinbrenners, the David Sterns and the higher-ups of the world. They compromise the integrity of the game, leaving us fans cringing and complaining at every juncture. They do what they do because they know they can.

“The ball never lies.”

At least I can hope.

If you think Jack Salisbury is full of lies, damn lies, contact him at jack24@.