NBA Fixing Games--WOW

[Wurider05]

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/shared-g...tting_Probe.htm

Is anyone really surprised by this. I know the the guy is a snitch but I believe him. Sometimes things are just a little too convenient for some teams.

[DJlaysitup]

How do you get to be a "snitch" or a "rat" as organized crime says? Not by being a hard working farmer is Southern Georgia or in Nebraska....nope...you gotta be on the inside to know. Amazing to me....the "rat" brought down the Gambino crime family. Scott McClellan is fixing to show all Americans how much we were lied to by our own President. You NEED rats. The people who hate RATS are the people who are robbing you.

C'mon Stern....spill.

[Seano]

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How do you get to be a "snitch" or a "rat" as organized crime says? Not by being a hard working farmer is Southern Georgia or in Nebraska....nope...you gotta be on the inside to know. Amazing to me....the "rat" brought down the Gambino crime family. Scott McClellan is fixing to show all Americans how much we were lied to by our own President. You NEED rats. The people who hate RATS are the people who are robbing you.

C'mon Stern....spill.

I agree. Donaghy is unquestionably dirty, but what he's alluding to is something far dirtier than that, and it's on an institutional rather than an individual level. So I wouldn't necessarily call him a 'snitch', if what he's doing is actually exposing corruption at the highest levels. If it takes a small rat to expose an even larger one, then so be it. It's for the better of all of us.

This whole thing is Stern's fault anyway. The Donaghy case had pretty much blown over and was almost completely out of the news and the public consciousness. He'd been tried, convicted, is going to prison, and was being quiet as a mouse. But then the league in its infinite wisdom (HA!) presented him with that ridiculous bill for 1 million dollars to pay for the legal expenses they'd incurred during his trial- and he got wicked pissed about that and that's why he decided to start singing. Had the league just left it alone and not sent him that bill (like they *really* need a lousy million dollars anyway), the whole thing might very well have ended right there.

And I'm inclined to believe him. I don't think there's much doubt that there was some sketchy business going on in that Mavs-Rockets series, and it's about a certainty that there was serious sketchiness going on in the Lakers-Kings series. I thought Scot Pollard's comment on that was very interesting. He was like "Yeah, I'm not the least bit surprised about this. We all knew there was something going on. I mean that was abundantly clear to everyone out there." And from the other side, even Phil Jackson acknowledged that the officiating in that series and particularly in that game 6 was suspicious and highly questionable, to say the very least. When you've got guys like that who were right there in the heart of the action, actual participants in those games- and they're going right along with what Donaghy's insinuating (not to mention Cuban's and Van Gundy's concerns about the officiating in their series).....well, that's a lot of smoke. And there's other smoke, such as the officiating in that Lakes-Kings series being *so* obviously fishy, that even consumer advocate Ralph Nader was calling for a public investigation of it...and the end result of all that is it just doesn't look good for the NBA, at all. As of now it's just an embarrassment and public black eye for the league at the time when it's at its most visible, but this has the potential to become an epic, massive scandal. It definitely bears watching.

Whatever they do, they've GOT to separate the officials from the league itself. The referees need to be a completely separate entity, because here should never, ever even be the possibility of a referee operating under orders from the boys in the league office. That's such an obvious conflict it's absolutely ridiculous, and it's incredibly stupid the league has allowed that scenario to go on for this long.

[Diesel]

Disgraced NBA referee alleges 2002 playoff conspiracy

NBA referees manipulated Game 6 of a 2002 playoff series to favor the Lakers and bring about a seventh game against the Sacramento Kings, disgraced former referee Tim Donaghy alleged in court papers filed Tuesday.

Describing two former referee peers as "company men," Donaghy claims in a letter filed by his lawyer that "it was in the NBA's interest to add another game to the series."

Without naming the teams involved, the letter to U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon in Brooklyn describes a playoff series in 2002 that went seven games. The Lakers trailed Sacramento in the Western Conference finals, three games to two, before winning Games 6 and 7 -- the only series that year that lasted seven games.

In Game 6, Sacramento's Vlade Divac and Scot Pollard fouled out trying to guard Los Angeles' Shaquille O'Neal, and the Lakers shot 40 free throws -- 15 more than the Kings -- including 27 in the final quarter.

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader and the group League of Fans had asked Stern in 2002 to investigate the officiating in the Lakers-Kings series, citing harsh criticism of the referees in news coverage.

Donaghy's letter includes other allegations of misconduct by NBA executives and referees. NBA Commissioner David Stern called the allegations "baseless."

Donaghy, awaiting July 14 sentencing on his guilty plea to felony charges of taking cash payoffs from gamblers and betting on games himself, provided the letter to elaborate on the extent of his cooperation with federal agents and seek a reduction in sentence.

Donaghy told federal agents in September 2007 that he was told about the alleged manipulation by a referee who had worked the game, according to the letter from Donaghy attorney John Lauro. Donaghy alleged that this referee and another working the game ignored fouls committed by "Team 6," an apparent reference to the Lakers, and called "made-up fouls" against "Team 5" -- the Kings.

"My reaction to Donaghy's lawyer are that clearly as the date of sentencing gets closer, and the things he's thrown against the wall haven't stuck, he's rehashing a variety of things that have been given to the U.S. attorney and the FBI, fully investigated, and are baseless," Stern told ESPN before Tuesday night's Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Staples Center between the Lakers and Boston Celtics.

Similarly, Lamell McMorris, head of the NBA referees union, issued a statement that said, "I'm not aware of any improper conduct by any current NBA referee in the playoffs six years ago or any conspiracy by the NBA to affect the outcome of any game then or now. Frankly, we're tired of Tim Donaghy's cat-and-mouse games."

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said Tuesday the calls of Game 6 in 2002 followed a bad call that contributed to the Lakers' defeat in Game 5. Smiling, he said, "Only us basketball coaches think that" some league referees are "company men" who consider television ratings in their judgment calls.

"A lot of things have happened in the course of the Tim Donaghy" deposition, said Jackson, who contends league referees should operate as a "separate entity" from the league. "We have to weigh it as it comes out."

On the night in question, The Times' Mark Heisler described then-Sacramento Coach Rick Adelman as "steaming."

"Our big guys get 20 fouls tonight and Shaq gets four. You tell me how the game went. It's just how it is," Adelman said. "They obviously got the game called the way they wanted to get it called."

Pollard, now with Boston, said Tuesday night, "If it was proven that it was . . . that would hurt. That would hurt the league, it would hurt my feelings, it would hurt everybody. That's ugly. . . . I don't want it to be found out that that was true. I would much rather live with human error than human interference."

Donaghy, 41, a former 13-year NBA official, pleaded guilty in August to gambling-related charges that leave him facing a sentence ranging from probation, which his attorney has requested, to 33 months in prison. Amon will make the final decision.

Katherine Darmer, a law professor at Chapman University, said she expects Donaghy's letter to further postpone sentencing, with the judge likely to press prosecutors about their investigation into his claims.

"It's really hard to proceed on a case based on the word of one guy who's already a criminal," Darmer said. "He has every reason to overstate what he knows because he faces the threat of jail.

"I would suspect the information he provided probably didn't pan out with corroboration. Or they may not have enough information yet."

In the four-page letter, it was also revealed Donaghy claimed to agents that an anonymous owner, believed to be Dallas' Mark Cuban, influenced a referee supervisor through complaints to instruct referees, including alternate Donaghy, to be more stringent in the calling of illegal screens by Houston Rockets center Yao Ming in a 2005 playoff series.

The Mavericks rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win the series, "resulting in more tickets sold and more televised games," Lauro wrote.

Donaghy also said one league referee was friends with a league general manager who was not identified. The referee, also anonymous, favored his friend's team by calling more fouls on the opponent in one game.

A referee supervisor also informed his staff that a league executive frowned on technical fouls or ejections of star players, Donaghy said, and one referee was reprimanded in January 2000 for doing so.

Longtime Kings season-ticket holder Stevan Allen said Donaghy's allegation supports long-held suspicions voiced by Sacramento fans over the bitter defeat.

"You don't want to buy into the grassy knoll, but it would confirm our worst fears," Allen said. "All Kings fans would just as soon forget that night. If this is true, it's a huge body blow to the league and the community. . . . It makes it worse. It's more salt in an old wound."

But former Lakers forward Rick Fox said the controversy was overblown, noting that Sacramento "still had a Game 7 on their court. At the end of the day, they had all the opportunities to win and they didn't."

And a smiling Lakers guard Derek Fisher wisecracked, "My 2002 championship ring is in a safety-deposit box. They can take it back. I don't want it."

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Times staff writers Jonathan Abrams, Mike Bresnahan and Steve Springer in Los Angeles and Eric Bailey in Sacramento contributed to this report.

[sturt]

Well, I would say that my past history of criticizing The Tyrant on the basis of the marketing-first philosophy he had openly espoused would be completely validated were this allegation to be supported by other corroboration.

My line of reasoning was that...

(a) Stern has always had a stronger thumb/influence on the way that games are officiated in professional basketball than is common or is acceptable in any other type of professional sport; that,

(b) the game purposely became more rough-and-tumble in order to widen the scope of "gray area" or "judgment" calls, thereby lending greater opportunity for referees to have influence; and that,

© that influence was ordinarily wielded with subtlety, such as (but not necessarily limited to) by instruction to referees through normal channels that they particularly watch certain players on certain teams for certain offenses.

To wit, I've often made the claim that The Tyrant's NBA for many years tilted the floor 51% to one side or the other--a given team still would have to largely earn a victory, but over time, the league enjoyed more positive results (ie, to the marketing bottom-line) than they otherwise would have.

But...

This obviously goes well beyond what even I'd claimed... again, if substantiated with more corroboration, which won't come easy.

EDIT: One more note... ever since the league announced two years ago that, in essence, they were going to re-commit themselves to a free-flowing game instead of professional wrestling on hardwood, I've thought I had less to complain about. That's not to say that there aren't bad calls, but it is to say that I haven't seen any flagrant no-calls or flagrant phantom calls as I did back when the Smitty/Shaq incident occurred in the 2001 playoffs and I first recognized The Tyrant's inordinate and unprecedented influence as the problem.

[GST]

If what Donaghy says is true, there are too many people involved to keep this from the light of day. All it is going to take is one competent investigator to find the right pressure point, and then someone will roll over.

[sturt]

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If what Donaghy says is true, there are too many people involved to keep this from the light of day. All it is going to take is one competent investigator to find the right pressure point, and then someone will roll over.

I'm not saying Donaghy isn't lying and taking advantage of the conspiracy whirlpool in order to promote the theory that there are bigger fish to fry... but...

I'm also not sure that "too many people" is actually necessary here... and let's be real, anyone in a position to know something has practically no incentive to roll over, since logically, those would be the very same people with something to hide. There is no reason for collateral personnel, who otherwise could corroborate the story, to be involved.

Phil Jackson's quote seems to say a lot without actually saying much, doesn't it? He's about as sly a dog as you'll ever hear bark.

[hawkman]

Game 6 of that Lakers/Kings series WAS fixed. Anyone who watched that game knows that. The Kings couldn't miss a basket against the Lakers in that game so the refs prevented them from even getting into their offense. I honestly felt that the game was not being decided by the respective teams and I was hot about it. I remember saying, "I know I'm not the only person seeing this!", while it was happening. It's strange that that's the only game I can think of when someone says something about fixing NBA games. If Donaghy is saying that the fix was in during that game, then he just gained some credibility in my eyes.

[PlayaPat420]

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How do you get to be a "snitch" or a "rat" as organized crime says? Not by being a hard working farmer is Southern Georgia or in Nebraska....nope...you gotta be on the inside to know. Amazing to me....the "rat" brought down the Gambino crime family. Scott McClellan is fixing to show all Americans how much we were lied to by our own President. You NEED rats. The people who hate RATS are the people who are robbing you.

C'mon Stern....spill.

not being a smartass but you become a snitch when you trade your knowledge about something for a lighter sentence. i always felt that the games have been fixed but his story would be more convincing if he had had this epiphany before he was charge and convicted (or pleaded). to corroborate (sp) his story isn't going to be easier either. unless he incriminates someone else who, in turn, snitches the same story...

[hawkman]

He's a snitch in every sense of the word. But if what he's saying is the truth, it won't matter. I believe him, and I think others are starting to believe him as well. We'll see how this all turns out. I had the feeling that this story went much deeper when it broke. Stern tried to dismiss it as an isolated incident, but even he didn't look to convinced about that.

[Wurider05]

Some guy just brought that in 2004 how strange it was that after Shaq was coming off toe surgery and in the middle of the season Stern changed the playoff format. I remember telling everyone how strange I thought that was back then.

[hawkman]

The more I think about it, how in the world can a guy(Derek Fisher) get off a turn around jumper in 0.4 seconds? I know what the call was on the court, but is that even physically possible? How come no one ever questions that call? Common sense should overrule ridiculous calls like that. But I don't want to get off on a rant about officiating in general. I just care about the occasions where the outcome of a game/series was affected as a direct result of crooked officiating. I always knew that some players(stars) got certain calls, but the thought of deliberately fixing games is troubling to me. I KNEW it happened in 2002, but I was hoping that was just an isolated incident or just some refs with an LA bias. If these reports keep coming out about "concerted" efforts to advance certain teams in the playoffs , it may be an indication of corruption at a much higher level than I originally thought.

[macdaddy]

I've always believed it to an extent. They're not stupid though. I think they manipulated the games when the opportunity presented itself but the winners still had to put the ball in the bucket. When the Pistons rolled over the Lakers I'm sure that wasn't in the league's plans but Detroit was just too good. Either that or the lakers had pissed off the league somehow.

[exodus]

What happened to the allegations he was making before he got tried?

Funny that he has to go all the way back to a controversial 2002 game to get attention. So what about the last few years? If refs were gambling and fixing games surely he could come up with something recent.

Or maybe he just pointed to a controversial game 6 years ago as "proof" of fixing to try and get out of paying restitution.

[AHF]

I have never been one to buy into the conspiracy theories, but it is remarkable how believable some of the allegations are. It is pretty clear that the NBA has played a star system in the way games are called for years and that games are called differently under different circumstances, such as in the final minute of the game. By playing these types of games with the officiating, the NBA lends a lot of credibility to anyone who wants to cry "wolf" at this being a corrupt scheme rather than shoddy work. That Sacramento/LA Game 6 was the height of the bad calls. It is tough to watch the replay of Kobe elbowing Bibby in the face and a foul being called on Bibby and to think that these are really the best and brightest official working on the straight and level.

If I was Stern, I would have the officials from the LA/Sacto and Dal/Miami games in front of the cameras claiming that this is BS and that Dougheny is frabricating this story for his own reasons. I don't think it is going to be enough for Stern to do an interview and point to Donoughy's own credibility problems (and they are serious problems). When Jose Canseco is the beacon of truth in baseball, it sets a low bar for the credibility of truthful informants.

[exodus]

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It is pretty clear that the NBA has played a star system in the way games are called for years

Yes but that is totally different from fixing games. The Felon said he had evidence of other refs gambling and fixing games. The FBI was investigating and we haven't heard anything from them. That means they couldn't find anything, are still investigating or did find something and decided to keep it quiet which is pretty unlikely.

It wouldnt take any inside info to claim that 2002 game was fixed and be believable. Anyone who watched the game could make the same allegations. it looks to me like a guy just grasping at straws to avoid paying $1 million.

[AHF]

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It is pretty clear that the NBA has played a star system in the way games are called for years

Yes but that is totally different from fixing games. The Felon said he had evidence of other refs gambling and fixing games. The FBI was investigating and we haven't heard anything from them. That means they couldn't find anything, are still investigating or did find something and decided to keep it quiet which is pretty unlikely.

It wouldnt take any inside info to claim that 2002 game was fixed and be believable. Anyone who watched the game could make the same allegations. it looks to me like a guy just grasping at straws to avoid paying $1 million.

I am not sure where you go with the FBI, though. It isn't like they charged the Felon with providing false evidence or perjury either - unlike someone like Barry Bonds.

Canseco looked like a guy who was just trying to sell books but that panned out.

I am going to wait and see how this pans out.

I think what is not up for debate is that the NBA has put itself in a position that it has a serious credibility problem. Every time you see a Derek-Fisher-no-call it is going to raise eyebrows - especially when it favors a team like LA.

[Lascar78]

Exactly, this is getting ridiculous. This is a guy facing real time and getting increasingly scandalous out of desperation. If everything he alleges was true, there would be evidence that can be found. The FBI investigated, although I'm sure some of you will tell me stern has the fbi in his pocket.

Now it's a conspiracy that fisher got the shot off in .4 even though the hometown scorekeeper could start the clock and the shot clearly released before the buzzer?

Now it's a conspiracy that they changed the playoff format, even though the owners approved it and it was clearly a move to just cash in more money?

The guy is referring to kings-lakers because that is the most talked about "referee" incident in the history of the league, and if you want to rally the conspiracy troops, that's the game you go to for instant credibility. AND EVEN THEN, he's not saying the nba told them to do anything, he's saying that the refs sent the calls one way to help the league out. Whether or not it was ordered or rewarded would be where the nba is implicated and he's not saying that.

I think that this is all BS from a desperate guy that really knows the most mythical "referee moments" that he can go to to stir disinformation. Stern is a smart guy. If donaghy really has dirt he can come out with, they wouldn't be pushing for a measley million. Even if you think stern is an evil puppeteer, surely you have to agree that he's smarter than that.

I agree with what van gundy said last night, which was basically that this guy should not be believed, but that the nba should be more transparent. I think he's right that when teams complain and refs get directives, the complaints and directives should be made available to all teams involved if not all teams.

[exodus]

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I am not sure where you go with the FBI, though. It isn't like they charged the Felon with providing false evidence or perjury either - unlike someone like Barry Bonds.

As far as i know you can't get charged with perjury for lying to the press. I didn't follow the case that closely but i seriously doubt he made those allegations under oath.

If the FBI felt there was credible evidence of wrongdoing from other refs they certainly would investigate it just like they did with him.

[sturt]

Canseco analogy is useful, but I agree that Donaghy has nothing to lose here... not a whole lot to win, either, in all likelihood, but on balance, the nothing to lose carries more weight.

And another thing....

Q: What's the motivation behind the so-called star system?

A: Control over marketing the game, and ultimately the prospect of greater revenues.

Q: What's the motivation behind fixing games?

A: Control over marketing the game, and ultimately the prospect of greater revenues.

The former is just a gateway stage that logically leads down a slippery slope to the latter.

No great mystery there. One has to wonder why anyone would feel so compelled to say otherwise.