The Donaghy Scandal

I've found that the NBA, more than any sport, has a way of attracting headlines during the off-season, something which I plan to take advantage of in the next several months as I continue this blog. Last summer, the initial Donaghy scandal (where he was found guilty of fixing games for the mob) stole headlines in the middle of the off-season. The summer before (maybe 2?), David Stern made news when he set the new dress code for players. This year, however, the news couldn't wait, instead interrupting one of the most-hyped NBA Finals in a long time. Disgraced former official Tim Donaghy threw everyone into a frenzy just before the game last night with his allegations that the NBA (read: David Stern) had Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals, between the Kings and Celtics, fixed, making sure that the Lakers won, therefore sending the series to a Game 7. Now, of course, having a series go seven games is the best possible situation for the league. Regardless of the interest level for the series as a whole, the do-or-die urgency of a Game 7 is an event nobody wants to miss. Also, it is always good for the league if the Lakers advance in the playoffs. AND, to make matters worse, the Lakers had a huge free throw advantage in that fateful Game 6 (27-9 in the 4th quarter alone). These are all things that will give the allegations some weight.

Donaghy is not the first person to claim that the NBA fixes games, or at least has a say in the outcomes. I said in this space a few days ago that I thought the Boston Celtics had an unfair advantage in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. However, there is a difference between bad officiating, something that I think IS a legitimate problem in the league right now, and fixing games, something that would absolutely ruin a sport who's image is already hurting. The NBA has always attracted conspiracy theorists, and always will, but it has never endured a scandal that could threaten the future of the sport like this potentially could. Depending on how this plays out, the NBA could very well lose the remainder of their already dwindling fan base.

With all that being said, it is my position that Donaghy's accusations are false. Lets start with the fact that Donaghy is simply a bad guy, a CONVICTED CRIMINAL who was caught fixing games after being in debt to the mob. He is simply trying to bring the NBA down with him, when in reality he was acting entirely independently in fixing games, and has no one to blame but himself. Also realize that Donaghy was not a referee of the game in question. While he was an active ref at the time, he had nothing to do with that game.

I was able to find the box score from that specific Game 6, and there were a few things that I found interesting. While the 4^th quarter free throws were overwhelmingly lopsided towards the Lakers, the free throw numbers for the game were 40-25 (favoring the Lakers). Obviously not the closest of margins, but when you compare that to the 38-10 difference from Game 2 a few nights ago, it really isn’t that bad. Also, it’s important to remember that the 2002 Lakers had Shaquille O’Neal towards the end of his prime, playing a home game for the two-time defending champions. They deserved the respect, and as we’ve seen in this series anyway, you’re going to get more calls at home. Shaq, especially then, was harder to objectively officiate than maybe anyone else the league has ever seen. There was so much contact on every play that he was involved in, that either he had to be called for an offensive foul, or the man guarding him would be called for a foul. Along with that, it was actually a sound strategy to foul him and not letting him shoot, taking your chances with him at the free throw line. And if that wasn’t enough, they had a young Kobe Bryant entering his very long prime, and this was the version of Kobe who wouldn’t settle for outside jumpers as much as he does now, but the Kobe that took the ball to the hoop as much as possible. So while Donaghy may have picked a specific game to target, which was definitely shaky in the way it was called, if you looked back at those years, I’m sure you would find that Lakers had an overwhelming advantage at the free throw line in most games they played in.

I’ve brought up this series many times in this report, and I want to clarify that as upsetting as the calls were to me in Game 2, I would never think that an NBA game was being fixed. When you use that word, it means the outcome of the game was determined, as much as possible, beforehand. One more ringing endorsement for the league comes from one of David Stern’s harshest critics, Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban, who has been fined a total of $1,665,000 by the league (seriously) during his time as owner. Cuban said, in an email to ESPN, that "There's no way on God's green Earth that David Stern has ever done anything to influence the outcome of a game." For someone who has spent years criticizing Stern's every move, there isn't a stronger supporting statement for the state of the league than that. 

Like I said, this is a bad situation for the league, however it turns out. But instead of wallowing in the past, and allegations from an admitted criminal, all we can do is look ahead to a league that has more promising young talent than it has in a long time, with the best USA Basketball team since the original Dream Team competing in the upcoming Olympic games, and the NBA Finals between the two best teams in the league about to go to Game 4. I for one am excited for the direction that the league is going, and I really hope that I'm not alone here. 

As usual, thanks for reading, and please feel free to weigh in on both this specific column or the blog in general.