HoopsHype.com Columns

Stern, NBA face the music
by Marc Narducci / July 24, 2007

The NBA has taken some huge hits over the years, but none of the magnitude of the current situation involving referee Tim Donaghy.

Donaghy, who resigned July 9 after 13 seasons, is under investigation by officials in the FBI’s New York office in connection with his role in allegedly shaving points in league games he officiated in the last few years.

He is expected to turn himself into authorities at the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn soon.

Commissioner David Stern was visibly shaken during his Tuesday press conference when he discussed the grim situation.

Stern said it’s the NBA’s knowledge that what Donaghy did was an isolated incident. It would be the NBA’s worst nightmare if Stern is wrong.

Stern acknowledged that Donaghy was called in two years ago to be asked about a dispute with a neighbor. At the meeting, Donaghy was also asked about whether he was gambling at a casino. The league investigated the gambling allegation but couldn’t come up with anything concrete.

A source said Donaghy had lost “hundreds of thousands of dollars” gambling. Now it doesn’t matter if those losses were on NFL game, Major League Baseball, hockey, or any other endeavor.

If a person gets too deep into a hole he becomes desperate and in debt to an unsavory crowd. This is the picture being painted about Donaghy. If he actually bet on games he officiated, that is even a worse betrayer of trust.

That said, the NBA will now unveil a full-court press, attempting to reshape its image and assure the fans that those given the responsibility to officiate the games are men and women of the utmost character.

The healing process began with Stern’s press conference. Usually comfortable behind a microphone, Stern couldn’t hide the deep hurt that he and the league is feeling at this point.

“This is the most serious situation and worst situation that I have ever experienced either as a fan of the NBA, a lawyer for the NBA or commissioner of the NBA," Stern said.

And now, the NBA has to win back the trust of many fans.

That’s because every call by an official that may be considered questionable – and there are plenty in each NBA game – will now be looked at skeptically by at least some segment of the public.

The NBA will survive this incident, just as it has others, but there is only one way that the public will be totally won over and that’s if something like this never occurs again.

Stern talked about the extensive security measures that the league already has in place. When a situation like this happens, it shows that whatever security that was employed, still wasn’t enough. One can be sure that the NBA will step up its efforts even more in the future to prevent a similar incident.

It’s obvious that the NBA spends an inordinate amount of time and money on security, monitoring the integrity of the league. This one slipped through the cracks, creating an alleged scandal that is the worst nightmare of any pro sports league, one that obviously caught everybody off guard.

"I'm surprised, but I guess no more surprised than the head of the FBI, head of CIA when rogue employees turn on their country despite the best investigative procedures in the country," Stern said.

Surprise, shock, horrified. All of the descriptions fit. It was a dark day for the NBA when the New York Post broke this story on Friday.

It wasn’t much brighter on Tuesday as Stern attempts to dig the league out of this major crisis.

Marc Narducci covers the NBA for the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a regular contributor to HoopsHype.com

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