Sports Radio Service


		Just one bad apple or are others shaving in the NBA? By David Zizmor July 23, 2007

	Law enforcement officials are looking into the possibilities that other NBA officials and even players had a hand in the point shaving of NBA games. If there are multi-players or officials that are involved in the point shaving this could make the 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal look like a neighborhood bridge game and the magnitude that this would do to the sport, would give it a black eye that could ripple for years. Talk show hosts Ken Gimblin and Joe Cronin have said that a point shaving scandal in the NBA involving multi persons and organized crime would not be only worse than baseball's steroid scandal but could set the game back to pre-David Stern days when the game was floundering financially in the late 1970s. The NBA is fiscally set with television contracts, sell out crowds and even the lesser considered teams are having a field day with great crowds like the Grizzlies and the Bobcats. What would the impact of gambling on basketball do to the league if it came out that players or officials had organized and shaved ball games? Will fans stop going and say "here I blew a fortune on season tickets or single gamers and the game was a farce all along?" Tim Donaghy officiated in the NBA for 13 years, as he called 63 games during the last season in the 2006-07 campaign. Donaghy worked 20 playoff games and is being questioned if he shaved those as well. Did the Phoenix Suns who felt that some games that they were involved in the post season and that Donaghy officiated got some raw deals in some of the calls that went the other way for them? How about the ball game that Donaghy called in Madison Square Garden in New York where the Knicks who were favored to beat the Miami Heat by 4.5 and covered the spread with a six point win after the Knicks shot 39 free throws to the Heat's eight. Also technical fouls were assessed to the Heat's head coach Pat Riley and assistant Ron Rothstein in that game. The NBA and now FBI agents are scouring over games that Donaghy had officiated and what the spreads were in those contests and what the results were. The NBA hosted the All-Star game this season in Las Vegas and Stern had said he would not commit to moving a team in Vegas and that yes betting would be a concern in that case, if there was any consideration before this should confirm that any future thoughts of bringing a team to the big city in the desert would be put on hold indefinitely. NBA union official Lamell McMorris said about the Donaghy case, "They are serious allegations. It's an ongoing federal investigation. And we don't really have much more to say about it, and neither do the referees," said McMorris. Donaghy and his family is still being investigated and has received death threats since the revelation over the weekend. Authorities in Florida where Donaghy resides have confirmed that Donaghy and his family have received death threats relating to the Donaghy story that he will cooperate with the FBI and name names of others who might be involved in betting and point shaving. The FBI was asked if they will ask Donaghy if any other officials or players played a role in point shaving and that could be the source of the death threats that authorities are concerned about if Donaghy names names. The FBI had said that Donaghy has low level mob ties and ever since Donaghy and his family have been threatened it is speculated that the Donaghy family will go underground in special federal witness protection program. Reporters who came to the Donaghy home over the weekend were greeted by a woman's voice telling them, "we have nothing to say". Stern had stated on New York radio that his greatest fear could be if officials and players are indeed involved in the gambling, and point shaving scandal, it could bring the league down. Teams could virtually have to find and destroy rosters of players who might have been connected in this scandal and start all over again ruining the credibility of the NBA for decades to come. Meanwhile Sheriff Lt. McNealy had said, "Our concern is for his safety and his family's safety. We are definitely going to share any information we get with the FBI." David Zizmor hosts Sportstalk on 1690 KFSG Sacramento. Quote Source: Philadelphia Inquirer