its report with "no evidence Donaghy fixed games," it was one of the biggest, blatant, obvious lies not normally seen except in the political world. Truly 'The Onion' type of story except they didn't mean for it to be satirical.
If anyone believed Donaghy didn't rig his games he reffed that he was laying action on...then wow.
great detail and well written. You'd swear some of the refs today were on the take since whistles never stop and many at the detriment of the game. I wish they had not brought Stern in so early and tried to find any other refs that were doing similar deeds.
I have read that one of the current refs was also under suspicion by the FBI until Stern got involved and worked a deal so that he could be an informant and stay under wraps (out of the public eye). This ref was a close friend of Donaghy. I certainly have no proof so I will leave it there, other than to say I can't stand this ref and swear he is there every time LeBron needs an important win. This ref has these claims written against him in articles but who knows the validity.
He assured everyone it was just one rogue ref, when he didn't even know about the one rogue ref until the feds came and told him. Could've been 10 of them, for all he know. But somehow a story that scandalous just went away. Bullshit like Deflategate and even PEDs become controversies for several years, and that one just quietly went away.
after the refs handed Miami game 3 of the 2006 Finals by sending Wade to the free throw line on every possession down the stretch. Mavs were up 2-0 and wound up losing the series. I think he flirted with hiring private investigators to look into NBA officiating after that series, but thought better of it.
I'd argue that basketball is uniquely susceptible... Â
Because the outcome of so few games actually matter and because a single referee can have such an outsized impact on a game. Baseball mistakes are more readily quantifiable and football games are few in number and more likely to be consequential so in both cases it'd be harder to escape detection. In theory, anyway.
Kings-Lakers, Game 6 of the WCF was on the up & up. I remember thinking something fishy was going on while watching it live.
I never took the NBA seriously again after this game. A total sham.
I have no doubt that the NBA leaked the FBI investigation because the FBI would have found out that the NBA itself fixes its own games.
For me it was the Spurs-Suns playoffs in 2007 (maybe?). Little will convince me that they handled the suspensions was not done with intention to have a specific playoff outcome.
great detail and well written. You'd swear some of the refs today were on the take since whistles never stop and many at the detriment of the game. I wish they had not brought Stern in so early and tried to find any other refs that were doing similar deeds.
I have read that one of the current refs was also under suspicion by the FBI until Stern got involved and worked a deal so that he could be an informant and stay under wraps (out of the public eye). This ref was a close friend of Donaghy. I certainly have no proof so I will leave it there, other than to say I can't stand this ref and swear he is there every time LeBron needs an important win. This ref has these claims written against him in articles but who knows the validity.
I laughed when he was reffing the All-Star Game the other night - figured Lebron would get in early foul trouble.
Full disclosure. I know Scott Foster a little bit. He was a HS classmate and baseball teammate of my youngest brother and college roommate, too. We were both groomsmen at my brother’s wedding. My brother was at Scott’s wedding and met Donaghy and said he was a first class, grade A asshole.
The couple of times I’ve been around Foster I’ve always enjoyed his company. I’m sad that his name keeps coming up in this but I certainly understand why it does. My brother still occasionally talks to him.
Kings-Lakers, Game 6 of the WCF was on the up & up. I remember thinking something fishy was going on while watching it live.
100%.
My buddies and I used to gamble on NBA games often back in those days...usually $25-$50 a game, nothing huge, but one night a few of us went heavier on the Knicks vs the Heat, maybe $250-$500, don’t recall why.
Turns out it’s one of the game oft-cited (including in this article) that Donaghy blatantly fixed...if memory serves the Knicks had to cover 5 or 6 pt spread, they were up 1 or 2 with 3 minutes left, then several fouls were called on the Heat in the last couple minutes and the Knicks covered with room to spare.
Even though we were lucky to be on the right side of that fix and all won on that game, we all agreed there was something way too fishy about it, and mostly stopped betting on the NBA after that
If anyone believed Donaghy didn't rig his games he reffed that he was laying action on...then wow.
I have read that one of the current refs was also under suspicion by the FBI until Stern got involved and worked a deal so that he could be an informant and stay under wraps (out of the public eye). This ref was a close friend of Donaghy. I certainly have no proof so I will leave it there, other than to say I can't stand this ref and swear he is there every time LeBron needs an important win. This ref has these claims written against him in articles but who knows the validity.
I never took the NBA seriously again after this game. A total sham.
I have no doubt that the NBA leaked the FBI investigation because the FBI would have found out that the NBA itself fixes its own games.
Quote:
Kings-Lakers, Game 6 of the WCF was on the up & up. I remember thinking something fishy was going on while watching it live.
I never took the NBA seriously again after this game. A total sham.
I have no doubt that the NBA leaked the FBI investigation because the FBI would have found out that the NBA itself fixes its own games.
For me it was the Spurs-Suns playoffs in 2007 (maybe?). Little will convince me that they handled the suspensions was not done with intention to have a specific playoff outcome.
I have read that one of the current refs was also under suspicion by the FBI until Stern got involved and worked a deal so that he could be an informant and stay under wraps (out of the public eye). This ref was a close friend of Donaghy. I certainly have no proof so I will leave it there, other than to say I can't stand this ref and swear he is there every time LeBron needs an important win. This ref has these claims written against him in articles but who knows the validity.
Scott Foster?
Full disclosure. I know Scott Foster a little bit. He was a HS classmate and baseball teammate of my youngest brother and college roommate, too. We were both groomsmen at my brother’s wedding. My brother was at Scott’s wedding and met Donaghy and said he was a first class, grade A asshole.
The couple of times I’ve been around Foster I’ve always enjoyed his company. I’m sad that his name keeps coming up in this but I certainly understand why it does. My brother still occasionally talks to him.
That game had a significant impact. The Lakers were losing by double digits and ended up having over 20 FT's in that decisive last quarter.
Completely fixed.
How could no one see what was going on?
Kind of like the NFL and how they don't seem to do anything about their crappy reffing.
100%.
My buddies and I used to gamble on NBA games often back in those days...usually $25-$50 a game, nothing huge, but one night a few of us went heavier on the Knicks vs the Heat, maybe $250-$500, don’t recall why.
Turns out it’s one of the game oft-cited (including in this article) that Donaghy blatantly fixed...if memory serves the Knicks had to cover 5 or 6 pt spread, they were up 1 or 2 with 3 minutes left, then several fouls were called on the Heat in the last couple minutes and the Knicks covered with room to spare.
Even though we were lucky to be on the right side of that fix and all won on that game, we all agreed there was something way too fishy about it, and mostly stopped betting on the NBA after that
Looks pretty compelling that Donaghy was indeed using the power of his whistle to impact the outcome of games AND Donaghy wasn't the lone ref.
Rockets' James Harden Upset With Refs After Loss To Lakers - ( New Window )