More on this: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">LAS VEGAS – The nightmare has forever lurked in the reaches of commissioner David Stern's mind, because NBA officials can control a basketball game with calls made and unmade with the subtlest of touches. These referees are human and flawed and can get deep into gambling debt, get addicted, like everyone else in this culture. And, of course, what the NBA official wields is the most dangerous weapon of all: a twisted whistle. As the sun rose on the Strip in Vegas, where the best players in the world had gathered for a Team USA minicamp, the doomsday scenario of fixed games hung over the league like an anvil. The FBI has been conducting an investigation into a referee betting on games that he officiated, and perhaps, making calls to control the point spread, the New York Post reported Friday morning. In a statement, the NBA said, "We have been asked by the FBI, with whom we are working closely, not to comment on this matter at this time." The official had a gambling problem, a source told the Associated Press, and had been approached by lower level mob associates to work with them. Apparently, there were tens of thousands of dollars in bets on games during the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons. It's bad enough that this official allegedly could've controlled games in the regular season, but did point spreads and playoff games get decided by a dirty official? Did a degenerate ref and mobsters play a part in determining a champion?</div> <div align="center">Source: Yahoo! Sports</div>
Further report, it was NBA referee Tim Donaghy. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2943095 I'm not surprise with this at all. For the past few seasons, the NBA refs got worse. Players, coaches, and owners filed concern regarding the NBA referee but Stein put them on ignore list. WOW, Stein is going to have a lot of explanations to do as now he is on the hot seat.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"Congratulations to Greg Willard, Tim Donaghy and Eddie F. Rush for giving us the most atrociously officiated game of the playoffs so far: Game 3 of the Suns-Spurs series. Bennett Salvatore, Tom Washington and Violet Palmer must have been outraged that they weren't involved in this mess. Good golly. Most of the calls favored the Spurs, but I don't even think the refs were biased -- they were so incompetent that there was no rhyme or reason to anything that was happening. Other than the latest call in NBA history (a shooting foul for Ginobili whistled three seconds after the play, when everyone was already running in the other direction), my favorite moment happened near the end, when the game was already over and they called a cheap bump on Bruce Bowen against Nash, so the cameras caught Mike D'Antoni (the most entertaining coach in the league if he's not getting calls) screaming sarcastically, "Why start now? Why bother?" What a travesty. Not since the Cocaine Era from 1978-1986 has the league faced a bigger ongoing issue than crappy officiating."</div> This is from an old Bill Simmons Blog.
Ever since Stern tried to "clean up" the NBA with all the dress codes and stuff, the NBA has gotten worse and worse
Not suprized at all. The NBA would rather not spend time on their officials because they're scared of the union and don't want officiating drawn into question. Everything has to be artifically perfect. Regarding the spread issue the NBA has no one to blame but themselves. Earlier this year the raptors were playing a game with the Hawks when 2 points magically disapeared from the scoreboard. Raptors lost but at one point they were down by 2 according to the scoreboard when the game was actually tied. So that changed the way the game played out. The most interesting part was a reporter from atlanta caught the error and mentioned it to the scoreboard crew who brushed it off. Raptors lost the game by 3 points. The spread: 2 points. What does the NBA do? It does a review and stands on it's hands. The guy wasn't even fired. How hard is it to pay attention to a basketball game? Better yet the NBA should have some sort of check and balance system where the score is backed up by another party. Stern is more concerned about stupid stuff like the freaking dress code rather than the quality of the games.
It has to be loser Dan Crawford for sure. The guy just handed the the trophy to the Miami Heat last year.
<div class="quote_poster">dallasdude Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">It has to be loser Dan Crawford for sure. The guy just handed the the trophy to the Miami Heat last year.</div> If the previous 5 posts or so haven't made it clear: it was Tim Donaghy.
Who was the nba official that went undercover living a double life as a cop and in the mafia? and then finally busted them all
I can't believe his identity has been revealed! If this guy was involved in the mafia and isnt in custody yet, expect his name in the obituaries next.
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Hopefully Stern takes a hard line on this official and makes an example out of him.</div> The Feds are leading this investigation. The least of Tim Donaghy concerns are what David Stern has planned for him. At this point he has to first worry about his safety from the mob and second worry about staying out of federal prison. I'm interested in knowing if Joey Crawford played any role in this information being leaked to the Feds. The integrity of basketball has never really been questioned. Fans do not necessarily like the product on the floor nor how players conduct themselves off of the floor but there has always been a sense that the game has always been played on an equal playing field so to speak. This is the ultimate black eye to a sport that truly needs positive press. The product on the floor isn't good enough to withstand the perception of corruption.
Adande: NBA's Image Takes Another Hit <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The worst news for the NBA was not on the cover of Friday's New York Post, where the words "Fixed!" and "NBA Ref" and "Mob Betting Scandal" jumped off the page in typical Post apocalyptic font size. The worst news was in your head. It was the question you asked. Not, "Is this possible?" More like, "Which ref was it?" If any fan base is predisposed to believing games could be fixed, that an official with dubious motives could manipulate the outcome, it's the NBA. There have been too many questionable calls over the years, too many swallowed whistles at critical times, mixed with too few repercussions from the league offices. So instead of, "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!" we had, "I knew it." And even when we had a name -- Tim Donaghy -- we still didn't have a conviction, an indictment or even a charge. Just an investigation.</div> Source: ESPN
<div class="quote_poster">Legacy Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Source: ESPN</div> Good to see J.A Adande is finally working again. But yeah he's right, The NBA is full of conspiracist fans. Including myself. Whenever the ping balls bounce a funny way or when playoffs come rolling around, everyone immediately jokes it was rigged. And now the fans have proof of at least one refs doing it. As fans we want this guy to be the only one ever to do it, but we have to think realistically. I doubt he's the only one to ever do this. NBA better get its act together. The Palace Brawl, which was ironically refed by the Donaghy. Off court problems for tons of players. The Nuggets/Knicks fights. The Spurs/Suns playoff series "tainted", which was also ironically reffed by Donaghy. Plus the worst ratings for an NBA Finals series EVER. Now were hearing the Mafia was involved in this one. Without serious reconstruction, the league is going to be viewed as a bunch of thugs and will eventually become lessed viewed then Hockey. Or even worse, "Pro" Wrestling.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">One thing that had to take a hit, though: the odds of Las Vegas getting an NBA franchise. </div> **sigh**. Not that I care if Vegas has a team, but is it so hard for people to imagine gambling happening in other cities besides Las Vegas. I doubt Joey Crawford is going into the tables at the MGM grand to place 10 G's on the heat, he'd have to do it through a bookie, which you can find anywhere!!!!
The Spurs Championship is legit cuz he only officiated in 5 playoff games.. I hope stern goes down with the ref for this.. lol
<div class="quote_poster">tracymcgrady_01 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The Spurs Championship is legit cuz he only officiated in 5 playoff games.. I hope stern goes down with the ref for this.. lol</div> And those were in the Suns/Spurs series...
