In a four-page letter released Tuesday, Tim Donaghy, said that two
officials conspired to fix the outcome of a 2002 playoff series and
influenced several other post- and regular-season games.
Court documents filed by Donaghy's lawyer detailed the
"inner-workings" of a plot in which top league executives used referees
to manipulate the games. Donaghy claims two referees were "company men"
whose job was to extend a playoff series in 2002 to a seventh game.
The playoff series in question is the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings.
"Personal fouls (resulting in obviously injured players) were
ignored even when they occurred in full view of the referees," the
document says of the unnamed series. "Conversely, the referees called
made-up fouls on Team 5 in order to give additional free throw
opportunities to Team 6."
Two players from Team 5 fouled out in the game, the document said,
and the "referees' favoring of Team 6 led to that team's victory that
night." Team 6 also went on to win Game 7 of the series, according to
the document.
My advice: Don’t take Tim Donaghy’s statement as truth.
Read the recaps. Study the boxscores. Watch the game again. Look at the series as a whole.
Come to your own conclusion.
For instance, everyone knows that the Lakers owned a 40-25 free
throw advantage in Game 6 -- including a staggering 27 attempts in the
4th quarter.
After fouling out in Game 6, Divac said, "I knew before the game I'd
be out of it. (O'Neal) went out (on fouls) up there (in Sacramento). It
had to be the same down here."
Divac’s explanation is the most logical explanation for Game 6 and for countless other conspiracy theories.
It’s a matter of make-up calls and homecourt advantage.
There were numerous blown calls in Game 5. The Kings received a
33-23 free throw advantage on the Lakers homecourt. The Lakers were
called for 7 more personal fouls. Shaq fouled out with 6 minutes remaining.
Officials are human. They make mistakes. It’s impossible to call a
perfect game. If all the fouls that should be called –- were called –-
the game would come to a standstill nearly every time down the floor.
The best we can hope for is consistency.
But there are bound to be calls where one team gets the benefit of
the doubt. In those situations, the home team receives that benefit –- and rightfully so.
If team ‘a’ receives the benefit from the officiating in one game, you can bet
that team ‘b’ will receive the benefit of the doubt in the
next game.
Tim Donaghy didn’t officiate the Kings-Lakers Game 6. If he had officiated it, his accusations could be substantiated.
Without having been there, I find it hard to believe Donaghy has actual evidence to back up these claims.
Instead, I think this is a sad-sacked effort to drag the NBA through the mud with the hopes of receiving a reduced sentence.
Donaghy is admitting his guilt while trying to insinuate that he's a product of a disgraced system.
Hoff, I think the major concern, and not just of me but a great many, is that such an allegation is being dismissed in the fashion that it has been by the commissioner. Behind closed doors he can be like "%^$# this #### is tarnishing my league, he's a liar" but to not launch an investigation or provide a solid response is not only su####ious, but an injustice to the consumers of his product. Would an NBA ticket be worth hundreds of dollars if it were not absolutely genuine that the game is genuine and natural? Of course not, the situation has been poorly handled, true or not.
But where there is smoke there is fire, and while the single game he is questioning may not have been corrupted, Stern's reluctance to investigate or be open to such makes me fear they must have something to hide. Donaghy is a weasel to be sure, but is he alone? We deserve to know do we not?
Only thing I would want to say is, there are crooks in every form of life and sport. Those who have been caught find some way to repent or as you say "attempt to reduce their sentencing". Those who havn't been caught, are not talking. Don't kid yourself into believing Donaghy is alone in this mess. It's a sad situation for the NBA and we are far from finding out the complete story.
I don't feel that I'm kidding myself. I just don't prescribe to the conspiracy theories. Especially the theories that claim Stern is behind the action, determining who's going to win what games and which series will be extended the longest.
It's too far-fetched for me.
I don't believe that many people can keep a secret.
You honestly believe Donaghy is "repenting?"
I don't think he should be considered a fraud solely because of his past transgressions. Everyone deserves a second chance.
But I don't see how he can prove any of this without having been a part of it. He didn't officiate any of the series he's claiming were fixed.
whether or not it's true...maybe it's not such a bad thing for Donaghy to have said what he said. yes it puts the game and the refs under a microscope, but it may also encourage them to be more impartial then ever before (out of fear of being pointed at).
another problem is that Stern has his own people doing the alleged investigating. that makes the investigation biased...doesn't it? suppose a probe turned up 6 more suspected "rogue" refs, and evidence of game tampering that reaches back to the classic 80's duels between L.A. and Boston...do you think Stern would release that sort of information? or would he resort to damage control?
Maybe the best solution is for an outside source to conduct a thorough investigation...
Since when has it been guilty until proven innocent?
Hoffman has a point, where's the EVIDENCE?
The same arguement could be made for almost any game, fans see the calls with their hearts...ecspecially when it's THEIR team.
At the time, Shaq was the single most difficult player to have to officiate for. His sheer size and strength made it damn near impossible.
As a Lakers fan, half the time I wasn't sure if he fouled or GOT fouled going to the hoop. It didn't help that Floppy Divac and every other team over-reacted on every drive.
This is the act of a desperate man (Donaghy) trying to take as many down with him as possible.
There may be truth in it, but without evidence, it just looks like desperation.
The court of public opinion means squat.
Let's see the PROOF.
Tapes, phone records, memos...SOMETHING besides a guy trying to save his own #### with allegations.
How about the 100,000 reasons VanGudy shut up? Did that not happen? Did you not laugh when he tried to down play that fine? Big business has and always will squash and deny the voice of one. When Donaghy names other people involved, (because just like the tax evasion scandle, there are others) who are you going to believe then?
Let Donaghy show us some evidence other than just his word. I am with Hoffman here. How can you believe someone who is just looking for a lighter sentence.
If he tells this stuff with no evidence, it makes him look good to the judge for "cooperating," and if he has no evidence for his story, no one has any evidence to prove he is lying. So what can anyone do but deny.
And just what are they going to investigate? If a ref makes a bad call or a bunch of bad calls, how do you tell if it is intentional or just doing a lousy job? It will still all be supposition no matter how many investigations they do, unless one of the refs he claims is involved comes forward and confesses voluntarily.
If Donaghy, as he claimed, was cooperating fully before, why has he waited until now to tell us this? Especially since it is right in the middle of the finals. The timing seems su####ious to me.
And last, no matter how many investigations you do, fans are not going to be satisfied unless the finding is what they want it to be. If it is not, they will start yelling "cover up."
As Bleed said, people view this with their heart not their head. No fan is unbiased. It is humanly impossible to be a sports fan and be unbiased.
I agree with alot here and its very hard to be unbiased as a fan....but that paticular game smelled up staples pretty bad with alot of experts questioning the officials afterword and then this allegation by Tim. You do have to wonder why Stern just blew it off like that too and didn't start a major investigation by outside experts.
I do know having season tickets since 86 here in Sac that if they come up with proof then I will be the first one dumping my tickets. I would love to hear this ex-ref rat #### say he made this up because this could ruin basketball for alot of fans including myself and too many fans out there right now think this was a fix Hoffman! I remember everything about that game and it was called one sided but I still think the refs coulda had a bad night!
GameStormC2C - I'm in favor of what Mark Cuban suggested awhile back and what Phil Jackson supported recently. And that involves NBA officials being governed by an entity separate of the NBA.
BleedPRPL&GLD - Not only was Shaq unstoppable at the time but the game was officiated a lot differently than it is now. Referees really allowed O'Neal to throw his weight around under the basket. If you got in his way, the foul was going to be called on you, not him. That was true for YEARS...not just Game 6.
The court of public opinion does matter. It's extremely disappointing to see so many polls around the net siding with Donaghy before any evidence is presented to back up his claims.
pumpdude - I honestly don't think Van Gundy had much to backpedal from. That situation involved the opposing team sending in tape of Yao Ming setting moving screens in the previous games and the series being officiated differently from that point on. Where's the news there? Why do you think the NBA allows teams to send in tapes of situations they think should be called in the ensuing games?
Those Kings-Lakers series were classic. I loved every minute of those battles. The only series I think has come close to matching those was Spurs-Suns last year.
I'm going to get tape of Game 6.
Other than what I wrote in the blog, I can't really comment on the specifics without having watched the game again.
I know that #### Bavetta, Bob Delaney and Ted Bernhardt officiated it.
I think #### Bavetta is a terrible official and has been for years.
But that doesn't mean I believe him to be corrupt.
Funny how after Donaghy got caught the NBA did their own so called investigation and found, "other officials have also gambled, just not the way Donaghy did. We have slapped them on the wrist and in our most stern voice told to stop or else". Payoff to keep their mouth shut and not turn in these guys in for protection from federal prosecution? Where are the results of that investigation? Give me a break.
The NBA discovered that NBA officials had gambled in casinos. Which was prohibited. But they hadn't gambled on NBA games. Prohibiting all forms of gambling from their officials was a little too strict in my opinion.
Which is what David Stern decided.
Did part of that decision result from his reluctance to penalize so many people? Probably. But what was he supposed to do? Suspend them all?
We all criticize officiating but it's a VERY DIFFICULT profession. The guys who officiate NBA games are 10 times better than the guys who officiate college games.
If Stern had suspended everyone for a small offense like gambling in casinos, the game would have suffered even more, trust me.
Man, the Lakers sure play well when they aren't getting whistled early and often. Odom finally gets going, Ariza hustling everywhere, Celts can't get anything going.
Though the Pedowitz interviews were completed months ago, the league won't release the report until Donaghy is sentenced, with hopes he would agree to meet with the investigators.
********
FIRST OF ALL why would donaghy want to speak to the NBA investigators? what's the point?
Stern also dismissed an idea Lakers coach Phil Jackson pushed this week, that a separate entity, rather than the league office, oversee the referees. Stern said officials in all major leagues report to their commissioner.
***********8
SECOND OF ALL........
um commisioner stern.........
THE COMMISIONERS OF THE OTHER MAJOR SPORTS AREN'T UNDER SU####ION OF "INFLUENCING THE OUTCOME OF IT'S GAMES"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MIC UP THE REFS LIKE YOU DO THE PLAYERS AND COACHES...
who are you kidding hoffman?...oh, thats right...yourself.....too late in the game to change career paths, I feel you. Good luck juggling the magic bullets.
The scandal has attracted the attention of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which plans to draft a letter of inquiry to the NBA in the next week, Newsday reported, citing an anonymous source familiar with the situation. The committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), will then decide whether to proceed with congressional hearings.
But did you know that “Six of the 27 free throws the Lakers shot were intentional fouls to extend the game, and 10 were less-valuable Shaq attempts?" – Professional NBA gambler Haralabos Voulgaris as reported to Henry Abbott of True Hoop
___________________
you try to use the type of fouls commited as proof that tim donaghy is not credible and should not be believed.
Q:What do you think about how the NBA has handled the Tim Donaghy investigation?
A:From a league perspective they have done a great job sweeping this scandal under the rug, and downplaying it.
I keep on reading how Donaghy "provided information" as though this was the crux of the scandal.
The guy fixed games. He didn't "provide information" he bet on games he was working, and made calls to insure he would win those bets. It's pretty basic stuff but the NBA has somehow turned the focus of the whole investigation away from this and instead focused on the "inside information" angle.
___________________________________ _______
THESE ARE THE POINTS I'VE BEEN TRYING TO DRIVE HOME HERE AT FOXSPORTS FOR MONTHS HOFFMAN.
GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE.
OR I CAN COPY AND PASTE EVERYTHING OVER HERE IF YOU LIKE!
Q:Can you give me more of a sense of what you have learned to gain that conviction? A lot of people have suspected as much, and have gone after that kind of evidence, but have not been able to publicly make that case convincingly. But I suspect they lack your contacts and perspective.
A:I have a lot of contacts in the sports betting marketplace, including offshore sportsbook owners, people who may have been enlisted to help bet the fixed games etc. The information I have gleaned from them tells me not only that Donaghy was betting on games he officiated, but on which games specifically.
But even if I wasn't privy to this information, Donaghy himself has admitted to betting on games he officiated. The NBA asserts that he was a rogue official with a gambling problem. I don't know many people with gambling problems who wouldn't want to skew the odds in their favor as much as possible. Are we to believe that we have a guy that took all these risks, started betting on games he worked, but also decided he was going to work these games fairly?
It's not even plausible in my opinion. It's not as if Donaghy was known for being someone who worked the games or even really lived his life with equanimity, yet somehow he was able to juggle the act of betting on games he officiated, and also officiate these games fairly?
The whole thing is really absurd, also consider that Donaghy took it a step further and associated himself with two guys that in the gambling industry are widely known as "movers." (middle men who place bets a.k.a battista, and martino.)
Bottom Line is that Tim D is guilty of betting and not officiating properly. NO DENYING THIS ONE!!!!! The rest is all conjecture and speculation. I do believe people change and there is a bit of truth in almost everything....but I am human and would have a very hard time lending any credibility to anything Donaghy is claiming until proven by an outside party. When you have done the things he has,,,,,you just don't have a leg to stand on and it is only natural to discredit anything out of his mouth. This was supposed to be about the finals and he pulls a stunt like A-Rod and shines some spot light on himself at the expense of the sports grandest stage......shame on you Timmy.......you obviously have not learned enough of humility and honesty yet in your life and will continue on your downward spiral as long as this type of behavior drives you
Finally, someone who uses logic has arrived on this issue. I voted no on that poll that Game 6 was fixed for those exact reasons. I just couldn't see the way that the refs knew that Shaq would be great at free throwing during that game.
I love basketball. While many basketball fans enjoy the month of March, I prefer the months of April, May, and June. I look forward to productive chats, heated debates, and honest opinions.
