Hawks Vet Claims Fix VS Lakers in '69 Playoffs

[JJFAN4LF]

LOS ANGELES -Joe Caldwell feels exonerated by referee Tim Donaghy and his latest allegations about the NBA scheming to fix playoff series, including the Kings-Lakers 2002 Western Conference finals.

The banned former NBA star has been telling his story since the late 1970s about another semifinal conspiracy involving the Lakers and it's fallen on deaf ears. Until now.

Caldwell mentioned it in his book, "Banned from Basketball" - the incident in the tunnel of the Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the campus of Georgia Tech before Game 1 of the 1969 semifinals between the Lakers and the Atlanta Hawks. While talking to his coach, ex-Knicks great Richie Guerin, Caldwell claims he overheard thencommissioner Walter Kennedy tell veteran referee Mendy Rudolph that the NBA can't have its Finals in a small arena like in Atlanta.

"We heard a voice, looked up and there's the commissioner saying, 'This is the NBA. We can't have our Finals here,' " Caldwell said. "There's 7,000 people here. They were trying to eliminate us. We were the best team in the NBA."

The Lakers swept them, 4-0. The Hawks were flagged for 34 fouls in Game 1. In the final game, Jerry West went to the line 21 times, 57 times for the series Caldwell says Guerin went nuts on Kennedy in that breezeway after hearing his remark and was later fined.

"Richie laid into him," Caldwell said. "He said, "What kind of crap is that.'

"I always said I'd never let the story die, and it died."

Guerin did not answer his phone in Florida yesterday.

Caldwell began telling the story after he was banned in the mid-1970's. As the Player's Association president, he was accused of advising Marvin Barnes to skip out on his team, which led to his expulsion. However, he believes he was banned because, entering the NBA/ABA merger, he refused the league's request to give up the pension he negotiated in his contract. But Caldwell feels Donaghy is telling the truth and feels David Stern is no different from Kennedy.

"Stern's law firm used to represent Kennedy," Caldwell said. "It's part of the game. That element will always be there.

"I'm absolutely not surprised ever since I found out this isn't a game anymore, that it's a business. I found that out in 1969. What's so unusual about the Donaghy thing. You listen to people say he's throwing people under the bus, but he's telling it like it is."

Donaghy's latest letter has cast a pall on what was a dream matchup the NBA pined for in the Finals.

"The NBA is like any conglomerate," Caldwell said. "They'll do anything they can do to make money. Why is it so hard for people to understand?"

Stern addressed the matter Tuesday, saying Donaghy's latest charges were "baseless" and said he'd talked to Congress about the referee issue and feels he has nothing to hide.

"We've met with reps of Congress privately to meet with them on this ongoing thing because there are members who are interested," Stern said. "We welcome scrutiny here."

Source: Click Here. NY POST.

[Wurider05]

Hell nothing has changed at all!!!