The Associated Press follows up the jawdropping referee point-shaving story first reported this morning by the New York Post with independent confirmation of the details.AP's Pat Milton adds another wrinkle: the allegedly crooked ref is aware the FBI is breathing down his neck and will surrender to authorities next week. Milton's anonymous law enforcement source also says the ref had a pre-existing gambling problem and got involved in the criminal syndicate through an acquaintance. Reports indicate the probe is focused on the past two seasons.
The Akron Beacon-Journal's Brian Windhorst (who's filling in for Henry Abbott at True Hoop) weighs in, calling the story 'a potential nightmare.'
With so many fouls and so many free throws in NBA games, it could so easily be done without notice. An official can call a handcheck foul or a loose ball foul virtually on every possession if he wanted to. Especially if it is a game that is largely decided -- say, a six-point game with 12 seconds to go. This situation happens almost every night in the NBA.Windhorst is spot on with regards to how this could slip under the league's radar, so I think we should withhold the pitchforks aimed at David Stern until we know more. But forget 'potential nightmares' -- this thing is already full-blown disaster. It won't kill the league (let us pray), but it will cause serious serious serious damage.
Previously on FanHouse:
FBI Investigating NBA Ref in Point-Shaving Scandal
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. pleeeeeease be Donaghy!
Posted at 12:14PM on Jul 20th 2007 by Unsilent Majority
2. Meanwhile, at NBA.com... butterflies and rainbows...
(well, obviously they wouldn't post anything on this, but still, I dream of this thing called transparency.. one day..)
Posted at 12:31PM on Jul 20th 2007 by TheHype
3. That sound you heard was Stu Jackson jumping off of a tall building.
Posted at 12:55PM on Jul 20th 2007 by Unsilent Majority
4. Mark Cuban is vindicated. The NBA is easily the worst-officiated pro league. Without real oversight, and a willingness to get rid of bad refs, the opportunity to fix games through bad calls will always be relatively easy.
Posted at 12:58PM on Jul 20th 2007 by Ned
5. Oh, man, this stinks. Bye-bye, credibility.
Elsewhere I posted a comment saying that the steroids scandal ruins sports for me because everytime I see a bulked-up athlete, I can't help but wonder if steroids or HGH is involved.
And now, anytime a ref or umpire pulls a Don Denkinger, people are going to wonder if a fix is in. In fact, an umpire recently blew a call on what should have been a game-ending doubleplay for the Phillies; the game went into extra innings and the Phillies ultimately lost. The umpire actually apologized to Charlie Manuel the next day and all we could do was shrug -- he's only human.
But when it happens again... anytime there's a questionable call that turns the tide of a game... people are gonna go "hmmm."
Nice. Real nice.
Posted at 1:04PM on Jul 20th 2007 by It\\\'s a mess
6. i hope this doesn't turn out to be one of the dopey refs that kept calling fouls for d.wade in the finals against the mavs. that would totally ruin the integrity of the league.
Posted at 1:35PM on Jul 20th 2007 by rvca
7.
As a Mavericks season ticket holder I am outraged.This must never be allowed.These games must NEVER be fixed!!!!
Was this guy Joey Crawford? That would explain some of his erratic behavior like throwing Tim Duncan out of the game for no reason.And calling those two critical iffy foul calls on Novitzki last season in playoffs We were there for that game and I was appalled to see Tim Duncan thrown out. I cannot wait to see who the crook is.
Posted at 2:31PM on Jul 20th 2007 by frankj
8. UM called it.
Posted at 2:32PM on Jul 20th 2007 by JoshLove
9. I am a God amongst mere mortals!
Posted at 2:40PM on Jul 20th 2007 by Unsilent Majority
10. Oh Please! The NBA has been crooked for a long time! It's finally shedding some light on it. Good ol' commish Stern knows about it if he isn't involved in it too. Until they make questionable calls contested and reviewed during a game it will continue. The black market gambling business is huge. Who's surprised? Way to go Homeland Security (FBI)!
Posted at 2:56PM on Jul 20th 2007 by Kelsy
11. Considering all of the tax evading referees, this is no surprise. They sold themselves many years ago with the tax issue.
I said then and now again, how could they be trusted when they showed that all they were concerned about was money.
Posted at 3:18PM on Jul 20th 2007 by dale tillotson
12. Let face it guys, its one bad referee and that's it. You can claim conspiricy because your team lost but a referee never scored a basket or made a jump shot. You fail to blast a million dollar player when he misses a free throw. And for Dallas fans, Dirk always disappear when the going gets tough. Refs are human and miss calls, period. Just like you miss things on your job. What Tim did was a disservice to sports and don't blam he for your teams short commings. Put the blam where it belongs...Stu Jackson. He has screw up everywhere his been...Vancouver, NY Knicks, Wisconsen and now the NBA. He is responsible for officials so the buck stops at Stu. If Stern was smart, he would dump Stu before the NBA becomes the CBA.
Posted at 5:03PM on Jul 20th 2007 by brright
13. UM for president
Posted at 9:05PM on Jul 20th 2007 by Manny Ybanez
14. anybody out there ever think that all sports are fixed. look at football ever sicne the snow job every year there is a blown playoff game in the nfl. carolina got the shaft in the superbowl. last year philly and everybody playing the saints got the shafted. pittsburgh was getting it hard against indy couple years ago how much more proof do you need. last year the s.d. pats game was joke.
Posted at 7:07AM on Jul 21st 2007 by raidermike
15. I new it was a conspiracy when the Heat beat the Mavericks. There were real BS calls against the Mavs all series long. Mark Cuban WAS right.
Posted at 9:56AM on Jul 23rd 2007 by john84
16. I've always been disgusted with NBA refs' arrogance while they have wielded the authority to eject a player for daring to complain about a bad call they made, even when the player was right.
Hopefully this scandal will spawn an era of accountability on the part of the refs. They should be subject to fines just like the players when they make a blatantly bad call.
I was encouraged over the Joey Crawford suspension. His conduct affected the western conference playoff seedings and that should never happen.
Posted at 4:34PM on Jul 23rd 2007 by Spademagic