Excerpts From Tim Donaghy's New Book
I'm surprised that nobody has linked to this yet. I've been hearing about it nonstop for the past two days. Even though Donaghy has no credibility, I believe him because he is confirming what I have suspected for a long time. He also gives very specific details that would take a lot of creativity to make up.
On a related note, if anybody saw that play two nights ago where LeBron James barreled into Chris Bosh late in the 4th quarter, while the Cavs were attempting a furious comeback, and saw it get called a blocking foul on Bosh, then like me you would have to agree that there is such a thing in the NBA as star treatment. Bosh had positioned himself early and had textbook footwork on the play, and he was clearly outside of the no-charge semi-circle. No matter, the refs gave the call to the NBA's golden boy. David Stern ought to be ashamed of himself.
4 months ago
cuppettcj
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Update
Apparently, the NBA will investigate these allegations. Good decision, IMHO. The league needs to give fans a sense of fairness. I would like to have confidence that if we play Cleveland again, the officials will give us a fair shake.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/sports/basketball/30refs.html
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
by cuppettcj on Oct 30, 2009 8:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Update #2
The Blazer’s Edge has an article about the allegations, since the 2000 series between the Blazers and Lakers was mentioned.
http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/10/28/1105680/blazers-appear-in-donaghy-book
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
by cuppettcj on Oct 30, 2009 10:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Update #3
The NBA will no longer allow referees to tip locker room attendants.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4606881
Obviously, a reaction to this excerpt:
To have a little fun at the expense of the worst troublemakers, the referees working the game would sometimes make a modest friendly wager amongst themselves: first ref to give one of the bad boys a technical foul wouldn’t have to tip the ball boy that night. In the NBA, ball boys set up the referees’ locker room and keep it stocked with food and beer for the postgame meal. We usually ran the kid ragged with a variety of personal requests and then slipped him a $20 bill. Technically, the winner of the bet won twice — he didn’t have to pay the kid and he got to call a T on Mr. Foul-Mouthed Big-Shot Du Jour.
More about these friendly referee bets at the main link above.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
by cuppettcj on Oct 30, 2009 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Update #4
Ex-FBI Agent Philip Scala, whose headed the FBI team that busted Tim Donaghy, says he believes Donaghy’s claims about other NBA officials.
Philip Scala, the recently retired FBI supervisory special agent in charge of the Gambino squad, which uncovered Donaghy’s scheme of betting on basketball games he had officiated, said he believes the disgraced referee’s claims that other refs were dirty.
…
“Donaghy, for some reason, looked up to me,” Scala said. "He came to me one day and said, ‘It means a lot to me if you could answer this question: Do you believe that I’ve told the truth?’ I told him, ‘I believe you.’
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
by cuppettcj on Oct 30, 2009 12:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Update #5
Some NBA execs believe Donaghy’s claims.
http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/126190
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
by cuppettcj on Oct 30, 2009 12:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I had the same thought this morning — surprised that no one had linked to it. The NBA’s investigation will be meaningless, in my opinion. They are hiring an outside person to do the investigation (a good start), but that person will report to the NBA. I’d like to see that outside person publish the report publicly. The NBA will announce the findings of the report in such a way as to gloss over any problems with their refs and highlight Donaghy’s untruthfulness. If there is any truth to Donaghy’s allegations, the NBA will quietly punish the refs in question, and that will be that.
Donaghy has no credibility, and some of stuff he says is written in a way that is so over the top that it isn’t believable (e.g., the Dick Bavetta stuff). Other information, though, is so random that no one would think to make that stuff up, and so I’m guessing it is true or at least based largely on truth (e.g., the betting among refs who would be the first ref to call a foul or call a tech, the Stafford-Isiah Thomas story, the Raja Bell stuff).
by disgrunted on Oct 30, 2009 9:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
My Problem With The Investigation
Is that it’s the same investigator who reported the last time that he investigated that there was no evidence of corruption. My guess is that all the other NBA referees are circling the wagons to protect their credibility and they aren’t admitting to anything. Anyone who watched LeBron James take 5 steps to beat us in Game 3 of the first round of the 2006 NBA playoffs knows that there is corruption among NBA referees. But they’ll never admit to it and in the end, the investigator will say that there is “no evidence” of corruption. In other words, nobody else, other than Donaghy, will fess up.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
by cuppettcj on Oct 30, 2009 10:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah - I'm not holding my breath.....
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
by Rook6980 on Oct 30, 2009 7:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I mean...
Some of the stuff in there is him reaching. Like, when he “exposes” Bavetta joking about getting some player in foul trouble … it could very easily have been Bavetta, well, joking. In any profession, people joke about the stuff they’ll do to mess things up and don’t really do it, or sort of do it without really messing things up.
There might be some truth in this stuff, but we also need to consider the source.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
by Mike Prada on Oct 30, 2009 10:20 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I Know
I don’t doubt that some of the material is made-up, the guy is a serial liar and convicted felon. But I’ve seen too many examples of biased refereeing in my lifetime of watching the NBA to believe that there is no truth in this. If the FBI can rely on mob informants for reliable inside information, I don’t see why the average fan shouldn’t at least believe in some of the allegations here.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
by cuppettcj on Oct 30, 2009 10:42 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Wow
Pretty harsh allegations.
I look forward to the NBA “investigation” and whitewashing of the whole thing.
Anyone who saw that game 6 in 2002 can’t doubt that there is at least a little truth in there.
by MR on Oct 30, 2009 10:28 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Anyone want to take a bet on the outcome
100-1 that the “official” investigation will show no substance to Dohaghy’s allegations….
I’ll bet 1, and pay 100 if I lose (chips, of course)
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
by Rook6980 on Oct 30, 2009 7:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
A Point About Orlando's NBA Finals Appearance
Many people who have tried to argue against any legitimacy for Donaghy’s claims use Orlando’s NBA Finals appearance as “proof” that the NBA doesn’t try to influence series’s. The rationale behind this is that if the NBA were influencing games, they would have done so at Orlando’s expense againt the LeBron’s in the EC Finals.
The problem with those making this argument is that they obviously did not watch the games. There is no doubt in my mind that the refs were trying to steer the series in Cleveland’s favor, but that the Magic were just too good to allow that. If that series had been called fairly, I have little doubt that the LeBron’s would have never made it past Game 4. Game 2 was ridiculously in LeBron’s favor. Orlando players were called for breathing on LeBron on one end of the floor, while LeBron could have gotten criminal charges filed against him for the way he was hitting Dwight Howard from the side and from behind. Dwight had to summon every ounce of patience he had to keep himself from getting thrown out of that game. He spent the better part of the second half on the bench due to foul trouble. It was clear that the refs wanted LeBron to win that one, but Orlando was so good they required him to hit that last-second shot to seal the deal. It should have never been that close.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
by cuppettcj on Oct 30, 2009 11:44 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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