NBA Ref, Tim Donaghy, Disgraced in Betting Scandal Tells All

Tim Donaghy, the referee who admitted supplying information to gambling interests about NBA games, has completed his prison time and is ready to spill the beans. Donaghy has located a publisher for his book detailing the secret manipulations of NBA games by referees and officials, and soon readers will be able to judge his story against the league's well-spun version.

Donaghy was recently released from prison after telling authorities he gave inside information to gamblers as to game outcomes. Donaghy said he had a problem himself with compulsive gambling that led him to the attention of shady sports betting operators. Gamblers receiving Donaghy's tips for NBA sports betting say they paid out 80 percent of the time.

The NBA conducted an investigation lasting over a year, and said it concluded that Donaghy was a rogue, and that no other officials were guilty of manipulating game results or unfairly calling games. A new division of security was created by the league to monitor referees and potential gambling corruption.

But Donaghy says in his book "Personal Foul" that game results were constantly manipulated, with the knowledge of and even orders from the league office. While rumors have floated for years that certain stars and big-city teams received favorable calls, Donaghy not only confirms this but says the word to do so came from high in league offices.

Donaghy names Dick Bavetta, a referee often named by observers suspicious of outcomes, as boasting of his posting to important playoff games because "he knew who the winner is supposed to be." Bavetta and the league deny emphatically Donaghy's story, but Bavetta said days after the info leaked that this might be his last year.

Donaghy named other officials for punsihing players in personal feuds, as well as ensuring top televsion payoffs and rewarding teams likely to draw high ratings.

Current player Ron Artest is making news after telling the Sporting News that referee Joey Crawford made sure the Los Angeles Lakers won their seven-game series with Artest's Houston Rockets last year. Artest says the Rockets had no chance because Crawford knew the league wanted star Kobe Bryant in the Finals. Artest is now a member of the Lakers with Bryant.

December 3, 2009
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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