The Fix Is In! Accusations Arise of NBA Ref Gambling & Fixing Games
7/21/07 - The latest news on the Tim Donaghy story:
The New York Post broke a story that an NBA official is being investigated by the FBI for apparent gambling and possibly for “fixing games“. While The referee in question has yet to be named, he is aware of the investigation and will turn himself into authorities soon (Fiji anyone?). The FBI believes that the bets on NBA basketball games took place during the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons. One can only hope that all of the games this guy “worked“ were regular season games and not the playoffs.
Updated 2pm (PST): The FBI is investigating allegations that veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy bet on basketball games over the past two seasons, including ones in which he officiated. Defense attorney John Lauro confirmed Donaghy is under investigation but refused to comment on the allegations or the case.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Donaghy officiated 68 games in the 2005-06 season and 63 games in 2006-07. He also worked 20 playoff games, including five last season.
The referee is being accused of making bets on NBA games, including those that he was officiating. Authorities are trying to analyze the games to determine if the official impacted the outcome of the basketball game by calling fouls (or not), and thus affecting the point spread for betters. There are reported links to organized crime - again, this is all speculation at this point.
The NBA issued a brief statement Friday: "We have been asked by the FBI, with whom we are working closely, not to comment on this matter at this time."
While all the details have yet to come out, it's certainly another black eye for the NBA, who seriously needs a new image consultant. The past year has been very unkind to the league (new ball, Suns playoff suspensions) and they could really use some good news. If it turns out that this official did affect the outcome of the games, it would be a hard truth to swallow. Despite David Stern's comments that the game isn't fixed, it seems that he didn't know the whole story. While the league itself wasn't directing the games, its very likely that this official and the people who he was working with, were controlling them.