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Originally Posted by molson
How do you think this is done, league memos to referees, or just a wink-wink-nod-nod, sack of money with a dollar sign in a tree stump arrangement?
I used to be very suspicious of the NBA, until all of those referees got in trouble for tax fraud. I thought that if they had that ace in their pocket, that the NBA was rigging games, they certainly would have used it with the feds then.
I know that Tim Donaghy made allegations about that Kings/Lakers game 6 (just as I thought those tax frauds referees would do, if there was really funny business). Obviously that didn't go anywhere, and Donaghy isn't exactly credible (though I realize that it's the sleazy, non-credible types that usually know the dirt - see Jose Conseco).
I mean, the NBA/networks rigging games is a serious, serious allegation. That's life-in-prison type stuff, end of North American professional sports forever type stuff. Do you really think the risk of that is worth the .05 rating jump or whatever a game 7 gets over regular programming? How do you keep the referees/network employees quiet?
It just doesn't add up to be as a practical plan for the NBA and the networks to get involved in something that ridiculous. I do though, think the NBA has done an amazing job somehow sweeping under the rug that a referee rigged games and got caught!! How did that not harm the league more? It's always in the back of my mind when I watch the NBA.
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First off, games were rigged. A 13-year NBA official was convicted of gambling. He bet on games that he officiated. He passed along information on refs and players to his handlers. Statistical analysis of his games showed a very high probability that those games were fixed. So lets not act like the NBA has not had fixed games before.
As for throwing games, I don't think it's a simple "hey make sure the Lakers win on Sunday". They assign officials they know call games certain ways to get the outcome they want. There are certain officials like Joey Crawford who they know doesn't handle home crowds well and calls in favor of the home team (you can look at his statistics on a number of betting sites). He will get assigned to a lot of Game 6's where it benefits the NBA to have the home team win and force a Game 7. Is Joey Crawford cheating? No. Does the league factor in what's in their best interest when assigning refs to games? I believe so.
Now there have been a lot of controversial games. The Kings-Lakers game is probably the most used. I've seen that game multiple times and I'm still convinced it was thrown. Whether that came from the NBA or just a crooked official (Donaghy did officiate it) I don't know. I do know that Donaghy did say games were fixed by a few refs who were "company men". I also know that the games that have the most controversial officials all seem to involve the same refs (Salvatore, Bevetta, Crawford, Donaghy, etc). Now most of these refs are rated very poorly throughout the league yet seem to get the most important games every year. I guess I don't understand why you wouldn't want your highest rated officials on the court for the biggest games.
Whatever you believe though, I still find the Donaghy story the most underated sports story in decades. Yes it got air play, but it should have been enormous. A 13-year NBA official who was involved in some of the biggest games was caught betting on those games. How is that not Pete Rose times 100? The entire integrity of the NBA just got shot in the face. I felt ESPN didn't go too deep into it because of their relationship with the NBA. The company that has to inform me of ever bowel movement TO makes couldn't research the games he officiated and come up with some statistics?