Report:FBI Probing A NBA Ref For Fixing Games

[Andrew]

Agreed, this is just about the last thing the leagues needs, regardless of whether the alleged point shaving affected any meaningful games.

[Dro]

How does one go about "going to the mob"? Do you go to a shady Italian diner? Buy an ad in the newspaper?

[Sauru]

Agreed, this is just about the last thing the leagues needs, regardless of whether the alleged point shaving affected any meaningful games.

even if it was only done on worthless games that no one cared about it still effected other peoples lively hood, so its something to be taken very serious. not to mention the black eye the nba will get from it

[Andrew]

No doubt. As I said, it's about the last thing the league needs right now (or indeed at any other time).

[Sauru]

espn has a report up listing some of the games he was a ref in including


"Donaghy was part of a crew working the Heat-Knicks game in New York in February when the Knicks shot 39 free throws to the Heat's eight, technical fouls were called on Heat coach Pat Riley and assistant Ron Rothstein, and the Knicks won by six. New York was favored by 4½. :

seems he was also a ref for the mavs/warriors playoff game on april 27th, anyone know how that game went down? or the suns/spurs game on on may 12th?

[cyanide]

He as apparently also part of the Raptors-Philadelphia game.

It was also stated that there could be other referees and players involved.

[Dro]

espn has a report up listing some of the games he was a ref in including


"Donaghy was part of a crew working the Heat-Knicks game in New York in February when the Knicks shot 39 free throws to the Heat's eight, technical fouls were called on Heat coach Pat Riley and assistant Ron Rothstein, and the Knicks won by six. New York was favored by 4½. :

seems he was also a ref for the mavs/warriors playoff game on april 27th, anyone know how that game went down? or the suns/spurs game on on may 12th?

Yeah, he reffed Suns/Spurs game 3. Spurs were favored by 4, they ended up winning 108-101 in what Bill Simmons called the worst officiated game he has ever seen (he said this loooooong before this story came out).

EDIT: He posted a new column today...it's worth checking out:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ons/070722

Imagine being a Suns fan right now. You just spent the last two months believing that your team got screwed by the Stoudemire/Diaw suspensions, that you would have won Game 1 if Nash didn't get hurt, that you would have taken Game 3 if you hadn't been screwed by the officials, that you would have cruised in Game 5 if two of your best guys weren't suspended for running towards their best player as he lay in a crumpled heap. Now it looks like an allegedly compromised referee worked Game 3.

Well, how much did Donaghy affect the game? How many calls did he whistle on Stoudemire? How many of Bowen's potential fouls did he not call? Was he the seemingly incompetent schmuck who made that three-seconds-too-late call on Ginobili? Did Tim Donaghy cost you that game?

[Dro]

Here's a compilation of the bullshit that went on in Game 3 of the Suns/Spurs. This was the game where Amare Stoudemire played only 21 minutes due to foul trouble:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvkKdXLwt0U

Completely ridiculous. If you don't want to watch all of it, at least watch the play at the beginning where the foul is called 4 seconds late and towards the end where it shows Nash getting hacked as he drives RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REFEREE.

I swear, I feel like I've been shat on. Utterly fucking ridiculous. The NBA better launch an investigation into every single zebra, because it wasn't only Donaghy who was making bullshit calls.

[Sauru]

i guess i am gonna go against the grain here and say this is good for the nba. its now out in the open that alot of the nba is fixed, maybe now the league will finally do something about it

[Axel]

Here's a compilation of the bullshit that went on in Game 3 of the Suns/Spurs. This was the game where Amare Stoudemire played only 21 minutes due to foul trouble:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvkKdXLwt0U

Completely ridiculous. If you don't want to watch all of it, at least watch the play at the beginning where the foul is called 4 seconds late and towards the end where it shows Nash getting hacked as he drives RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REFEREE.

I swear, I feel like I've been shat on. Utterly fucking ridiculous. The NBA better launch an investigation into every single zebra, because it wasn't only Donaghy who was making bullshit calls.

If the game itself wasn't enough to make me want to hurl, this will definetly do it.

I swear... if these allegations come out to show fixed games... I will be turned away from watching the NBA. I will always love basketball... but there is no way I can show support for a league with as many problems as the NBA.

[NovU]

the news itself is quite destressing
me too, i will be turned away from watching nba

[Anthony15]

Ok so Donaghy is gone, I doubt that the rest of the officials are doing it, and even if they are doing it, they'll probably stop after they saw what happend to him to save their jobs. NBA just needs to move on from this accident, they're not gonna make the Suns and Spurs replay game 3 just because he refereed that game.

[Dro]

Ok so Donaghy is gone, I doubt that the rest of the officials are doing it

Why exactly do you doubt that other officials are doing it? Just because it's hard to believe? Let me ask you this; if someone were to tell you on Thursday night that the next day an NBA referee would be caught betting on games he officiated, would you believe them? There's no doubt in my mind that if one official is doing it, there is a strong possibility that there are others.

even if they are doing it, they'll probably stop after they saw what happend to him to save their jobs.

LOL. Betting on NBA games is more than enough to get you sent to jail. If there are other referees doing it, they will be caught. Frankly, it strikes me as appalling that you would be OK with rogue referees just "stopping" betting on games and getting away with STEALING from everybody who invests their time and money into the NBA product.

NBA just needs to move on from this accident, they're not gonna make the Suns and Spurs replay game 3 just because he refereed that game.

Believe me, Stern & Co. want to move on. It's the fans who are paying thousands of dollars per year to go to games and buy merchandise who want answers and change. And no, they won't make anybody play any games over, but I can assure you that Suns fans are so appalled by this incident...the NBA in Phoenix will never be the same, and the people it will hurt most are the NBA's owners and elites.

[Jamespeso]

Even though ref's favor a side or whatever doesn't technically make the game fixed. The other team can still win!

[The X]

Even though ref's favor a side or whatever doesn't technically make the game fixed. The other team can still win!

but if 2 teams are very closely matched, it's only takes a couple of dodgy calls to swing a game in another team's favour....that's the point....it's hard enough beating the Spurs at 100% & firing on all cylinders, let alone being screwed by referee/s....

[Dro]

Even though ref's favor a side or whatever doesn't technically make the game fixed.

...yes, yes it does.

[Jamespeso]

Even though ref's favor a side or whatever doesn't technically make the game fixed. The other team can still win!

but if 2 teams are very closely matched, it's only takes a couple of dodgy calls to swing a game in another team's favour....that's the point....it's hard enough beating the Spurs at 100% & firing on all cylinders, let alone being screwed by referee/s....

I didn't mean that it doesn't help. I just said the other team can still win. But yeah, I totally agree with that.

[ThaLiveKing]

To be honest. . sometimes when you watch a game, a ref would make a call, then the other ref (who would look frustrated) Over-ride the call!! Cause even he knows it's bullshit.

[Sauru]

Even though ref's favor a side or whatever doesn't technically make the game fixed.

...yes, yes it does.

yeah wtf man, thats exactly what it means?

[Anthony15]

Dro, I understand you, since you're from Phoenix. Personally I don't care much about this because he didn't affect Nuggets much. He only refereed like 8 games for us and we only lost once, going 7-1 when he refereed our games.

[Sauru]

i bet he didnt affect boston at all either but it still pisses me off to no end. i guess i am a basketball fan before anything else.

[JT_55]

Dro, I understand you, since you're from Phoenix. Personally I don't care much about this because he didn't affect Nuggets much. He only refereed like 8 games for us and we only lost once, going 7-1 when he refereed our games.

It's still not right. Tim Donaghy (and whoever else is doing this) made the game unfair, and if you care one little bit for the game as well as the Nuggets, you would care that a bunch of cheating refs are ruining basketball.

[Andrew]

The latest from Stern is that it's an isolated case. I'd certainly hope so but if it is a widespread problem then now is a great time to clean it up.

Saw this on RealGM yesterday:

Did Donaghy Help Warriors In Game Versus Bulls?

As F.B.I. officials, the news media and fans pore over video footage of games refereed by Tim Donaghy, looking for curious foul calls and other such behavior, several seconds of a game between the Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors in February could attract attention.

The Bulls-Warriors game of Feb. 9, played at Golden State and broadcast on ESPN, was tied, 112-112, with 23 seconds remaining. While a Bulls guard dribbled between midcourt and the 3-point shot line — clearly working the clock down for an attempt at a final shot — Warriors center Andris Biedrens stood in the lane without guarding anyone for about seven seconds, which is grounds for a defensive three-seconds violation.

Donaghy, stationed behind Biedrens on the baseline, clearly stepped forward and tapped Biedrens on the waist with 16 seconds left. Biedrens, by then at the edge of the lane, then immediately moved clear of the paint, and play continued.

The penalty for defensive three seconds is the assessment of a technical foul and retention of the ball. Golden State could have faced a 3- or 4-point deficit before getting the ball back.

Instead, the Bulls had a shot blocked with six seconds left, and Golden State missed a half-court heave to leave the score tied as regulation time ran out. The Warriors won in overtime, 123-121. According to several gambling Web sites, the odds opened with the Warriors favored by a point and a half.

Had they won that game they would have finished the year with 50 wins and the second seed. What's done is done and I'm not about to suggest the Bulls would have won it all if not for that loss but if Donaghy's calls have affected as many teams as suggested, I'd say more than a couple of teams have been dealt setbacks (some larger than others) in seemingly meaningless regular season games.

[Andrew]

Donaghy Cheated Through High School, College

Long before NBA referee Tim Donaghy landed in the middle of a betting scandal, he had a rep as an operator.

Back in high school, he was suspected of cheating on his SATs by fooling an aging nun, a former teacher at Cardinal O'Hara High remembered.

The cheating allegations against Donaghy - who is now the target of a federal probe for allegedly betting on NBA games, including several he officiated - were never proven. But he was later heard bragging about the alleged scam.

"I taught him for a year, and I think every homework assignment he turned in to me was copied," one teacher at the school told the Daily News.

The same teacher said years later he was in a New Jersey bar and heard Donaghy boasting to pals that he had cheated his way through Villanova University.

He's certainly turning out to be quite an unscrupulous character.

[Amphatoast]

i know im bumping an "old" topic a bit, but as new comes it's hard to not discuss

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2977395

game 3 of the suns and spurs series was possibly "fixed"