By David A. F. Sweet
In the 21st century, no pro sports league has suffered more from gambling scandals than the NBA. Given the small number of players on the court and the often-subjective manner of foul calls, it is perhaps the easiest game for gamblers to sway. Even before the most recent arrests of a trio of NBA stalwarts, the league faced unnerving questions about the integrity of its games when a longtime referee was accused of betting on games he oversaw.
Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy ended up in prison for bets on games he officiated, among other charges.
Tim Donaghy officiated about 800 NBA games (including playoffs) across 13 seasons. In 2007, the FBI visited NBA headquarters in New York. Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver – the first league commissioner to ever embrace legal sports betting – was there when the FBI shared its accusations against Donaghy, which aside from betting included a charge that he had been sharing inside information with professional gamblers.
Players had noticed bizarre calls on the court. During the Whistleblower podcast by Tim Livingston, Rasheed Wallace, a 16-year NBA veteran, shared this insight.
“I forgot the team we were playing, but the ref called a foul on me, and he was facing the table putting the number in. Donaghy was way on the other side of the court, and he hits me with a technical. This shocks everybody. I didn’t say anything or dispute the call. He said I threw the ball at the ref. I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He calls another tech on me, and I’m ejected.”
Tapped by the Commissioner David Stern to investigate if there was a widespread gambling problem among referees, attorney Larry Pedowitz conducted a 14-month examination. Perhaps most importantly, 52 of 57 referees interviewed admitted to gambling in some form, primarily at casinos. Though none acknowledged betting on NBA games, which certainly helped Stern and the owners of billion-dollar franchises breathe easier, the report didn’t exactly boost the image of referees. (Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, an outspoken critic of NBA officials, once said of one of the greatest refs, Ed Rush, “I wouldn’t hire him to manage a Dairy Queen. His interest is not in the integrity of the game or improving the officiating.”)
In another Whistleblower episode, Livingston interviewed Donaghy, whom he called “the most infamous referee in NBA history.” Donaghy, who was charged with two felonies and sentenced to 15 months in prison, had plenty to say – none of it good for the integrity of the game.
“I started to gamble on the golf course, cards, professional and college games, betting on NBA games and NBA games I officiated … the NBA had a major influence in what they wanted the referees to call on a given night. I took that information knowing the referee crew would do certain things and teams had advantages and disadvantages. The NBA game is more of a form of entertainment – it’s not really a true athletic competition.”
Livingston pointed out that “in basketball, there’s so much contact on every play that a referee could almost call a foul on every possession. Most of the calls in the NBA exist in a grey area. The referees can call everything or nothing – which gives them a lot of power.”
Here’s an example: in my book Three Seconds in Munich about the most controversial finish in sports history, one of the two referees of the gold-medal basketball game between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1972 drew suspicion. As the game became close in the final minutes, when every foul sent a plyer to the free-throw line, referee Artenik Arabadjian from Bulgaria (essentially a Soviet satellite) started calling more fouls on the United States, including two that looked completely unmerited. After the game – whose disputed outcome caused the U.S. players to reject their silver medals following the 51-50 loss – Arabadjian told a fellow referee, “Had we permitted the Americans to win that game, I would have had to fear for the safety of my family prior to getting home.”
Once the allegations against Donaghy became public, Stern called it “the most serious situation and worst situation” in his tenure as NBA commissioner, which was then in its 33rd year. Since then, the league has welcomed sports-betting operators as partners. In-arena sportsbooks are beginning to flourish. According to CBS Sports, nearly half of the NBA’s 30 teams broadcast games on the FanDuel Sports Network. It is impossible to avoid point spreads and gambling ads during games.
NBA Commissioner David Stern was extremely upset about the Donaghy allegations, which happened years before the NBA embraced sports betting.
The NBA has chosen to accept the kind of money it once loathed. That is an awful look when coaches and players are getting arrested for gambling, and you’ve already endured one of the worst referee scandals in history. It’s hard to remain viable long-term when fans are likely to wonder if games are scripted like WWF events.
This is the second of a two-part series. The Sporting Life columnist David A. F. Sweet can be reached at dafsweet@aol.com.
