WOW.........

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2008/06/10...ws_whistle_on_n.html

If true, this is absolutely devastating to Stern and the NBA.

While anything's possible, especially in the NBA, it stretches my brain a bit too far to give much credence to Donaghy...it's not like this is a ref like Earl Strom (i.e. a credible source) singing like a canary...if the NBA was fixed, why would PDX get Oden? Why would the Spurs win 4 of the last 9 titles? Why are the Knicks, one of the NBA's signature franchises (and the #1 sized market in the USA, housed just a mile or 2 from the NBA's HQ) such a mess, and have been a mess for years now?...Some pointed to the Lakers' win over the Spurs a couple of weeks ago as evidence (Brent Barry was fouled by a Laker w/1-2 seconds to go, yet received no free throws), but they neglected to mention that it shouldn't have even come to that, due to a key call that should've gone LA's way, but didn't...maybe the biggest thing is: while David Stern hasn't been perfect (why he's so gung ho to leave Seattle for the bustling metropolis of OKC is mystifying, and the move from hoops hotbed Charlotte to tiny, football-mad Nawlins was a head scratcher), he isn't stupid--if the NBA was ever actually caught fixing games, etc., the league would probably effectively crumble--while Stern isn't infallible, I think he's smarter than that--does he really want to be known as another Vince McMahon? I'm guessing no.

A couple of points (although you are raising very fair issues James, so I'm not directing this at you personally):

1. It is entirely possible for individual events to be heavily influenced, without EVERYTHING being fixed. Fixing EVERYTHING (the lottery, for example, is independently audited by one of the national CPA firms, and it would be suicide for that firm to be in on a fix - thus, I don't believe the lottery is, or has ever been, fixed).

2. Donaghy is a snake, but it takes snakes for stuff like this to come to light. Exhibit A being Canseco... exhibit B, McNamee.

Canseco and McNamee LED with the goods. There's also documentation (and Andy Pettitte) to back them up.

Donaghy's story seems to build over time, the next story being more sensational than the last. Um, do you smell what I smell?

quote:

Originally posted by Paul Schmidt:
Canseco and McNamee LED with the goods. There's also documentation (and Andy Pettitte) to back them up.

Donaghy's story seems to build over time, the next story being more sensational than the last. Um, do you smell what I smell?

Actually, Canseco, McNamee, Walsh did not LEAD with the goods. It came out gradually over time.

And there are plenty of stories floating around the Internet, between interviews with gamblers, players, officials, refs, etc., to lead you to believe that something wasn't right.

I don't believe that the NBA lotteries were ever fixed. I don't even believe that the Lakers or Bulls recent championship runs were fixed per se. But anyone with half a brain who saw game 6 of Kings/Lakers in 2002 knows something was not on the level, and it wasn't simply a "the refs had a bad day".

I just think there's nothing "wrong" with the NBA/officiating that hasn't been "wrong" for decades...lessee, the big stars get the calls, the home team typically gets the bulk of FTs...so what else is new?...I admit it smells a bit when the Lakers seemingly got all the calls/FTs in that game in '02, or when the Suns got 64 FTs to Seattle's 27 (or whatever it actually was) in '93 (though I delighted in the Sonics' ousting --but, when there are so many other examples of times where a "fix" was not in play (Spurs besting the Lakers repeatedly, Oden/Durant being relegated to the distant outposts in the NW, etc., etc.), I think it's almost silly/wasting one's time, to talk about fixes, etc...do we need better officiating? Yep, but the NBA is the hardest sport to officiate, and those guys are only human, subject to the home team crowds' emotions, etc...I do think Stern, called a marketing whiz by so many through the years, needs to do a lot better job of public relations--the urgency he shows towards moving the Sonics to OKC is just unfathomable--and, responding to any tough questions by the media about suspicious officiating/the Sonics' pending move to OKC with a "I'm smart and you're obviously stupid (to be asking me questions like that)" just won't cut it...

I agree that it's silly to rehash out the past and bow to the "tin foil hat" conspiracy crowd. I just think that NBA refereeing needs to be more transparent going forward, and they (obviously) need to keep a tighter leash on these guys to make sure they aren't betting on the games.

Stern has always been that way, from the Connie Hawkins saga to the present day. He won't change unless/until he get tossed out as the commish.