I always wondered to what degree things were rigged by the NBA and it is more than I thought. That's quite a page of excerpts from the book. Whether or not it is published, the damage is done. Corruption is everywhere. That's why I like sports so much, and basketball in particular. To witness amazing athletic feats and overcoming the odds is inspiring and affirming of the greatness of humanity. There is a purity in it. We are taught that doing things the right way through sport builds character and instills integrity. The culmination of this process brings the best of the best to the pinnacle of professional sport. And one would expect these values of truth to permeate the product presented to the masses. The NBA Cares. Commercials showing our professional athletes helping communities through various charity work reinforce this 'apple pie notion' of purity. Forget that the MVP of last year's NBA Finals was accused of rape, (He probably couldn't've done it anyway 'cause he's so awesome on the court, right?) and forget about Tim Donaghy and his little book. The NBA Cares...about money. It is Greed. It is Corrupt. The NBA is Fraudulent.
Does any of this shock anyone, especially as Houston Rockets fans? The bad part about it is, it's taking a convicted felon who is in trouble for compromising the integrity of a game he officiated to bring it to light, which will water down any truth that is within, and enough people will discount it based on that alone, which is what stern wants. Look for more dirt to be released about Donaghy so they can brace for the storm by demeaning him further to the extent of their ability once they see the book's steam generating. In the end, they will make their statements, and Stern will go back to business as usual, enforcing his will on how he wants the league to appear regardless of the truth. I don't think it contaminates the core legitimacy of the league, but I do think that it will confirm what many fans have felt for years, and what they've been primed to come to terms with in view of other sports catastrophies such as MLB.... that Big League Sports is about Big League Money, and sometimes, just sometimes, fairness and competition can't stand the pressure of all that greed.
of course you do, so you can sound all smart and condescending in front of everybody and think you know more sht than anybody. u would believe every single word in that book, dumba$$
As long as this system is in place it doesn't matter who the officials are. The NBA hand picks the officials. They don't get the job because they are the most qualified. They pay them to manipulate games. I want to nuke Nevada.
Uh, what? Have we ever even spoken? I mean where did that come from? I would like to read the book because it would be interesting...... Man, some people.... DD
I can believe refs being favorable to superstars and punishing players who are disrepectful, cause in the end the refs are human, they have emotions, they too are fans of certain players, they also can be biased. But what SHOCKS me the most is the NBA and the commish being part of a big conspiracy to screw fans of teams other than Lakers. Its doesn't matter who the refs are if league office is the main source of the problem.
I dont want basketball's rep ruined like baseballs, on the other hand it is interesting and if true needs to be fixed. Id read it
We all know about the Mavs vs Rockets series....... Hard to believe he isn't telling some truth. After all even Refs are human.
Yao Ming should be the next commisioner. Then, he tell the refs to go easy on him in a game and change the rules so that guards get called for the foul when they jump into him.
I read the whole thing on deadspin. The excerpts never say that the league specifically instructed refs to go for one team or another. The most they would do is assign certain refs to an important game. So I think the league free from the corruption charges. The excerpts do make the process of evaluating refs look really bad though. Remember how Stern promised to make the grading of refs more transparent a while back? We're still waiting... We know the NFL has a grading scale for refs so that only the best crews get to work the playoffs. Baseball has had it's troubles with this postseason but they did pull those officials that committed mistakes from working the world series. The NBA? people complain every year and it remains the same, the same guys keep popping up and making the same mistakes. I hope this thing gets published and the league to change it's ways. Canseco's whistle blowing led to congress getting involved, which eventually led to some improvement in the steroid situation. The same thing needs to happen here. Someone with juice needs to make the league accountable because it's clear that the league either wants the mess with the refs to happen or they can't do anything to stop it.
I might. I want to know how deep the worm hole may go in the NBA and also to see if his book states things that sound relevant enough to take him seriously and this referee thing or it was just one guy. I owe it to myself since I watch so much basketball to make a judgement on how much personal emotion I should be investing in each win or loss. Which is allot because I love the Rockets.
Is there anyway in a rational world that a 70 year old man should be an NBA referee? Why is Dick Bavetta still a referee? The NBA has a culture of fraud that starts with Bavetta being a company man, all the young refs see his example and the culture implies that in order to get ahead, you need to listen to which way the league wants you to blow the whistle. I actually have no doubt that 90% of the refs are honest, however, the league knows which 10% are "company men" and if an important game needs fixing, they will appoint the "right" refs to fix it. We all know Dick Bavetta track record, Game 6 2002 WCF, Game 7 2000 WCF, Game 3 1999 ECF(LJ's 4 point play), anyone who wants to rewatch those games will clearly see that they were fixed. There are dozens of other games bavetta has refereed where the "chosen" team did not need as blatant of a "fix".
Where there is smoke there is fire. I have been wondering about the way the game is officiated in the NBA and this revelation is an eye opener. I think Donaghy has every reason to be vengeful and embellish greatly what he revealed in the manuscript for the book. But a lot of what he said made sense when pitted against many bizarre games in the recent past. I agree with some posters here that it is sad to realize that there is that great possibility that games are rigged. I would definitely read the book if only to get some sense of previously senseless calls by many NBA officials.
