Tim Donaghy

[twigsanberries]

At this point, I believe this issue justifies its own thread, because the allegations that Tim Donaghy just brought up can have a ripple effect that dates back years and years. In a new article just posted on espn.com, Donaghy basically says that there was a conspiracy that originated from the leauge office, which states that officials were told not to eject star players, and to officiate in a manner that would directly impact the outcome of games. The most notable one was game 6 of the 2002 WCF. At the time I watched this series from the beginning to end, since I am a huge fan of the kings, and at the time they had 3 Serbs on the team, and were one of the favorites for the leauge title.

In the game, kings had a 3-2 in the series, and were pretty much about to close them out, when LA was awarded a shocking 27 FT attempts in the 4th quarter. Now, much like the recent Boston game where Leon Powe out-attempted the Lakers team by himself, one cannot simply put the blame on the refs. However, to have such a disparity in one quarter is absolutely ridicilous. The Lakers did end up winning the series, on the Kings floor no less so not to take anything away from them, but it does open up a huge can of worms. In the ESPN article, it is worth noting that when an official ejected a star player in a playoff series in the early 2000s, the referee was actually privately reprimanded.

My question to you, gentlemen and Yoss... how big of a deal is this? David Sten has all along said that this was one rogue official, and that the manner is dead. Donaghy could be trying to save his own ass, he faced countless years in jail. However, there have been so many games where I watched the screen, and simply could not believe the calls that were happening. So, is this a big deal, and is there truth to this? Could it be possible that the leauge office had an impact on how games were ran, for whatever reason. As a fan i sure hope not. As a realist, I believe it is a distinct possibility.

ESPN.com article....

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3436401

 

[SlayerDeuS]

hmmm i donno if i can trust a soon-to-be convicted felon who dealt with the mob. donaghy is a scumbag, however so are all the nba execs that want high ratings, merchandise sales and money. i kind of hope he's telling the truth just to **** over stern.

 

[Yossarian]

I love how yer bringing this place from its usual state of total inertia into a mild coma, bro. You're upping the livelinessof this otherwise stagnant place....good on yah!


In regards to the Donaghy scandal, I think that Slayer speaks on my behalf for the most part. From the looks of it, it's one of the biggest fraud incidence in sports history and yet the NBA, with a very complicit media, I suppose, managed to amazingly conceal and extinguish this ruinous event rather quickly and effortlessly. I think that the Vick case was just hitting its stride at that time and the Videogate might've also been going on, and those were some serious distractions, but they shouldn've been enough to have entirely trump this matter, man.

I've always considered the NBA to be one of the worst reffed leagues in all of sportsdom, but at the same time, it's also one of the hardest to officiate in my opinion. I don't vividly recall much of anything, but I do distinctly remember that series being a vomit-fest interms of the retarded calls that the refs made and how the Kings were shafted royally by them.


There's no way in my opinion that Donagjhy is the only tainted official in the League. I've got the distinct feeling that some of his fellow refs were in on it with him and others were probably aware of his deceit and were just too scared to confront him or the authorities about it. I don't think that it would be advantageous in any way shape or form for Donaghy to blatantly lie to the FBI or amplify his story because he's already got some grim charges facing him, you know? If they prove that he's bull****ting them, it's only gonna significantly worsen his potential sentence and completely discredit his side of the story.....so it would actually be detrimental to his cause for him to make untruthful statements at this point, you know?

 

[SlayerDeuS]

true.

it's the old prisoner's dilemma adage. if it is at all linked to stern & nba execs can we expect lawsuits and perhaps even the end of the nba as we know it? let's hope so.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

The feds are investigating Dick Bavetta. About 10 years too late.

 

[twigsanberries]

you can see he's shady just by looking at him. at games, it always seemed he was more interested in showboating then actually calling the games. almost like he wanted everybody to look at him and know he's the boss.

 

[Yossarian]

true.

it's the old prisoner's dilemma adage. if it is at all linked to stern & nba execs can we expect lawsuits and perhaps even the end of the nba as we know it? let's hope so.

let's hope so, man

The feds are investigating Dick Bavetta. About 10 years too late.

hurhurhur....yeah, that old bastard looks dirtier than a coal miner's ass after a long day of work beneath the earth.


This league needs a complete overhaul in its officiating department. They should start recruiting marginal D-League players who've been playing the game all their lives and train them thoroughly for like two solid years, maybe even give them some experience by shipping them off to Europe and then offer them starting salaries of 200-300k after thy've completed their training