The Kings, Christies and fans were stiffed…and it’s still happening
Image details: Chris Webber talks to Hidayet Turkoglu, Vlade Divac and Doug Christie served by picapp.com
-The Kings look for answers in Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals
Tim Donaghy said what?
Wow…where do I begin with this one? Or better yet, let’s see where I end…
I am devastated to the point of feeling physically sick! Not just for myself, but for my teammates (who put their true heart and soul on the line), the fans in Sacramento (and worldwide) and the players out there on the floor right now. What’s “real” and what’s fake? So many and so much has been effected by these turn of events, not to mention that the fans didn’t get a chance to see the “true champions”. I can just hear all of the nay sayers now, saying, “He’s just mad because they didn’t win the championship.”
Well, now we know why (if these allegations are true). It’s hard enough that you are facing the defending champs, hall of fame players and coaches, but you are also playing 5 on 8 (come on!). This is really disheartening. You work hard, play hard and it’s all bull. But, it’s what you see and the consumer believes it. Whoever “they” say are the “champs” are the “champs” (deserving or not). “They” are controlling the whole thing. What really makes me mad in the turn of events since then is the fact that these events have turned into what I consider a black balling of myself in the NBA!!
Yes, it hurts and is disappointing, but the ships sails on. I know what I bring to the game as a player on and off the court. I know I always made the decision to do the right thing and I always will. Again the nay sayers will say, “He’s mad because nobody picked him up.” Well, that’s just not true because you haven’t heard a word from me about it before now.
A champion is treated in a whole different light. They are valued in the locker room and commercially on a whole different level. For years, my wife and I have been ridiculed and talked about like we are weird, all because we did not fit the “mold” of what the culture breeds in the NBA. It got to the point that these stories would precede us to the point that teams thought that I (i.e. we) would be a problem. That is bogus!!!! Respecting yourself, your family and being a team player is a problem? The point being that if the series would have went the way we all know that it should have, as a champion my relationship would have been praised because the “champs” are always shown in a good light. Just like now, you see Kobe and many players with their wives and kids right there hugging and kissing, now it’s “chic”…
And not to knock any of the players, I am very pleased and proud that now all of them can feel ok about showing how they feel about their families in public. After my family and I took all of the bullets and were put through hell, our businesses suffered and ultimately the profession that I love so dearly has been taken away with lies and propaganda, just as that series was.
Are you kidding me? Last season (‘07/’08), I go in the gym with the Sonics and Trail Blazers (not to mention the GMs that I spoke to personally) and outplayed 90% of their guys. The only thing my agent told me they were interested in was my relationship with my wife, what happened before, or why did I leave the Clippers??? Truth be told, my family and I were dealing with the same old lies and workers starting trouble with us. I’m not willing to deal with that!
I just want to go and play the game that I love. So, that makes me weird, huh?!? Maybe if I was fighting with my wife and flirting with people, I would still be playing or at least going out on my own terms!
The biggest shame isn’t the fact that this happened. It’s the fact that “they” continue to let it happen…right before our eyes! From “star” calls to the whistle changing in the playoffs, it’s just a really sad state of affairs. Question…how about a ref officiating games in his “hometown?” The plot thickens…
–DC
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45 Responses to “The Kings, Christies and fans were stiffed…and it’s still happening”
June 15th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Regardless of whether Donaghy’s allegations about your series with the Lakers are true or not, we all can agree that you got stiffed. Just the fact that Donaghy did what he did compromised the integrity and credibility of ALL officials and the ENTIRE league. Until Stern actually stops to fully address the credibility issue for his league instead of point fingers at Donaghy’s lack thereof, these questions will remain.
You’re a champion in my book.
June 15th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
DC, I loved watching you guys go to the top, and like the Sac Bee said when the allegaitons came out, “Kings Were Robbed.”
Any NBA Team doesn’t want you because of your relationship with your wife and you being a good husband doesn’t deserve you. Maybe you should make your way to Boston next year. I’d like to see you play again.
June 15th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
i think it would be in david stern’s best interest to get donaghy killed…..just kidding…..but you have to think that the thought crossed his mind
June 15th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
It is time for an external investigation into the NBA.
The investigation must not answer to David Stern, and he should not have a say in who the investigator will be. The results should be made public immediately after the completion of the investigation.
Something dodgy is going on, David Stern knows it, and we know it too.
The Kings should have been in the finals. It is blatantly obvious that the game was fixed.
David Stern makes me sick and I mere possibility that the top basketball league in the world is fixing games is an embarrassment to the sport.
June 16th, 2008 at 3:15 am
i’m reaaaal sure you outplayed 90% of those guys.
douchebag
June 16th, 2008 at 6:43 am
Sounds just like the place I work at. Sac town had a great team that year and hearing this is dissapointing. I hope you find what your looking for DC and those who disgrace the game get what they deserve. Strong believer in KARMA….
June 16th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Just another reason why more people should tune into the NHL.
I really believe the NBA has lost touch with basketball fans along time ago. While I understand all pro sports are for entertainment, the NBA has become more glitz than substance. To be honest I don’t really the NBA cares nearly as much about the quality of the game as they do about entertaining and selling advertising space.
As for your professional basketball career; if you truly were pushed out of the game over the love of your wife that is very sad. I wish you the best of luck, whether it be in basketball or some other endeavor.
This might be rather myopic for me to say, but if you love the game as much as you say you do perhaps coaching is the perfect thing for you. That way you can share that passion with players. You can help guide them the right way. Just a thought, take care!
June 16th, 2008 at 8:50 am
[…] puts Perkins on the bench Kobe still trying to write a happy ending The World of Doug Christie The Kings and fans were stiffed and it’s still happening Hartford Courant Kobe’s school of logic passes test Injured shoulder forces Perkins to sit […]
June 16th, 2008 at 9:29 am
It is sickening, this whole debacle.
Everyone knew the Kings got screwed in that playoffs series, television cameras don’t lie.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:38 am
DC,
You come off as whinny, unintelligent and self obsessed. If the NBA fixed that game, how do you know they did not fix the game before that to get you to that game? Or how do you know that they did not fix your prior series to get you to the WCF? Sorry but this not about you, this whole me, my wife and i syndrome is the reason your are unemployed. Nobody takes their wife to work everyday, it is unhealthy for everybody including you and your wife. Dude what Happened in Orlando? and Dallas? and LA? why won’t the Kings take you back?
June 16th, 2008 at 10:20 am
[…] they didn’t. - HOOPSWORLD - Shipping Zach Randolph to Philly actually makes a lot of sense. - The World of Doug Christie - Dougie isn’t taking this latest Tim Donaghy news so well. - Fanhouse - Could Andrew Bogut […]
June 16th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Gosh. Maybe if you hadn’t choked away Game 7, someone would care.
June 16th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Wow, you have really lost a lot of hair.
June 16th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Get over yourself. You’ve been blackballed from the NBA because you suck.
June 16th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Doug the fix has always been in sorry-and sorry for the long post but here is at least some reasons why and what the NBA is hiding
You have to go back to the Ford Pinto.
NBC had a brand new “news” show called Dateline. Dateline aired a story about the Ford Pinto and how when rear-ended, it blew up. That in and of itself was not news as others had reported something similar albeit untrue. The fact that the NBC News department rigged the Pinto with dynamite for the story in order for it to blow up on impact, was news and showed the lengths to which NBC would go to “justify” their premise. Of course when a court of law found NBC liable and made them pay damages to Ford, the Network should have been embarrassed enough to turn away from the way it does business. They didn’t blink an eye and it wasn’t until 1991 when Dick Ebersol and NBC acquired the rights to televise the NBA for 600 million dollars, that the full effect of their lack of integrity was exposed.
Let’s review some facts.
Since 1979 there have been 8 NBA champions-this season included. Only 8 teams-8-have won the NBA championship. Think about that for a second. Eight teams. That means that 22 teams start the year KNOWING that they have no shot of winning the title. In case you think I am wrong here is the list. Celtics, Lakers, Rockets, Pistons, Bulls, Sixers, Heat and Spurs. Let’s look at baseball in that same time frame. Baseball-which we are constantly being told is broken and needs to be fixed has had these teams win the World Series since 1979: Yankees, Orioles, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Royals, White Sox, Twins, Tigers, A’s, Angels, Mets, Braves, Pirates, Phillies, Reds, Cardinals, Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Marlins. Sportswriters think Baseball needs a salary cap? How has that worked out in the NBA? Parody? (play on words-duh) 8 teams in 30 years?
I won’t even address the NBA draft at this point except to say one thing. Watch old drafts on ESPN Classic and you will notice that for years David Stern assured us that the lottery’s integrity-a new word for Stern-was being carefully watched by the accounting firm of Arthur Anderson. You can’t even make these things up.
Now let’s get to the fraud that is the NBA.
I have believed since the early 1990’s that the NBA has done it’s best to make sure Marquee players and teams were playing on TV more than anyone else and it stands to reason that if they (NBA/NBC) were making sure of that on a random Sunday in January or March-when the NBA used to get ratings-minimal but better than Nascar-then you better believe you will see those players when the advertising revenue is at its peak in April/May/June. There is a very poorly kept secret in television sports that in long playoff series, Networks break even on a game five, make money on a game six and make lots more money on a game seven. Please check the numbers. It’s a fact and I doubt the Networks or the NBA would argue this is not true-facts prove otherwise.
The evidence of this fraud is overwhelming, but I won’t go into every single piece as I don’t have the time or the space, however I will take just a few instances and you can take it from there because mine are not the ones that have already been exposed-these would be additional to the ones you have read about.
Let me be clear. I don’t believe players are throwing games, but talk to a player and he knows the real deal. Let’s take a few games and then I will go into what happens.
2001 NBA Western conference Final. Sunday June 4, 2000.
The Indiana Pacers won the East on Friday night June 2 and are awaiting the winner of the West to play for the NBA championship. Portland for the most part has outplayed the Lakers and on the surface should have a great shot to win game 7 and the NBA can celebrate for the next two weeks that the two best teams in the league are playing in the NBA finals. Imagine the excitement across the country-Indiana vs Portland….how great for the league to have it’s two best teams….ummmm never gonna happen. There was no chance that NBC which paid 600 million dollars for the NBA rights and had been reeling since Michael Jordan’s retirement, was going to air a Portland/Indiana finals-the NBA’s worst nightmare. It might not have drawn a 1 share. Now to the game. The Lakers are trailing by 75-60 with just over 10 minutes to go. Shaq has 4 fouls and Rasheed Wallace owns the game. The common refrain is that Portland got cold from the floor shooting something like 0-13 or 2-17 in the 4th quarter. Well here is a stat most people don’t consider. When you get fouled on a shot in the NBA and you make it, it is considered a shot attempt. When you get fouled on shot and miss it is not considered a shot attempt. When you get constantly fouled and miss and no calls are made, you go 0-13 or whatever it was. Don’t take my word for it. Watch the game-I think a lot of it is on youtube. There is no doubt the referees swallowed their whistle late in the ball game so much so that not only was rasheed doing his usual bellyaching, but so was most everyone else. It was an embarrassment for the league that it was allowed to happen. Watch the game and tell me that was on the level. Take this side note for whatever it’s worth-the Lakers shot 37 free throws (majority in the 4th quarter I believe, but can’t verify that) the Balzers shot 16. Coincidently, who worked the game? Hugh Evans, Steve Javie and…Dick Bavetta.
Let’s go to another game. Miami is hosting the knicks sometime after Jordan’s 2nd retirement. Clarence Witherspoon misses a short jumper in the paint with about 5 or 6 seconds left-don’t remember exactly. The ball finds it’s way to Latrelle Spreewell who promptly falls out of bounds. It should be Miami ball under the basket with 2 or 3 seconds to play. Sprewell knows he made a mistake. Miami is happy-until one of the officials decides that Spreewell called a timeout before he fell out of bounds. Huh? This is how ESPN reported the story back then.
“Getting the winning points from Patrick Ewing with 1:20 left and the benefit of an official’s call with 2.1 seconds left, the Knicks knocked the Heat out of the playoffs 83-82 Sunday in Game 7 of their second-round series to advance to the Eastern Conference finals against Indiana.
So upset were the Heat with the way the ending went down-they felt an official had awarded the Knicks a timeout when no one had asked for one-that Jamal Mashburn chased the referees as they ran off the court while Miami’s coaches yelled that they had been robbed.
Referee Bennett Salvatore said Sprewell had called a timeout, although Sprewell admitted he hadn’t.
“They had three officials in their pocket,” Mashburn said.
“I had Sprewell calling time out,” Salvatore said, “but I wasn’t sure where his foot was. I didn’t believe he was out of bounds, but I wanted to check with my partner (Dick Bavetta and Dan Crawford were the other officials) to make sure he was not out of bounds when my whistle blew. He confirmed that there was no question the timeout came before he went out of bounds.”
Hardaway was among the most vocal critics of the call-on the court and again after the game.
“I see why they call Dick Bavetta ‘Knick’ Bavetta,” Hardaway said.”
To be sure, Chris Childs claimed he called the timeout even though he had earlier denied doing just that. The interesting thing on this one is Hardaway. Who is the “they” he is referring to? The media? Never heard that from them. The League? Don’t think they would say that about an official. The players? Ya’ think? and everyone in the league knew it. Is there another “they” he could be referring to? Not likely. So let’s see we could have an Indiana/Miami east finals (snore) or we could have a Knicks/Indiana finals…hmmm…no brainer ….and who do you assign to games to make sure it falls out as you want it? New York Knick Bavetta.
But let’s look at another game if that’s not enough for you.
Everyone is focused on Game 6 of the 2002 Sacramento/Lakers series. That’s not the game in question. Look at game 4 in LA, Lakers down 2 games to 1. Less than 10 seconds remaining. Vlade Divac has the ball for the Kings with a one point lead. A bucket here and the Lakers are in it deep with less than 10 sec left. Divac is attacking the paint and moves in for the slam which he does. Foul is called BEFORE THE SHOT on Kobe Bryant out top. Vlade is stunned. Watch the tape. Kobe doesn’t come close to fouling anyone and no one touches him as he heads unmolested to the basket. Out of nowhere a foul. The call is a non continuation call to boot. Lakers are in the penalty though so instead of a three point play, Vlade makes one of two to extend the lead to 99-97 with roughly 8-10 seconds to go.
Before I continue, let me explain how this works. Players make or miss shots-not officials. Outcomes are not defined beforehand per se, that would be a felony. However, theopportunities for players to make or miss these shots is how this all works. To fix the outcome would be illegal. To ensure the desired results would be ..the NBA.
With that as a backdrop let’s get back to game 4. Vlade makes one of two. Two point game. The Lakers set up a play-Kobe misses a layup. Watch the play and you will see what I am writing about. Shaq rebounds and gets HAMMERED and undoubtedly on purpose because if he goes to the line the game is over for all intents and purposes due to his horrid free throw shooting. The Kings maul him as he catches the ball, then on his way up, then on the next rebound attempt. No call with plenty of opportunities to get it right. The ball gets tipped out to a wide-open Robert Horry who sinks the game winning three as the buzzer sounds. By calling the foul on Bryant, it basically ensured the Lakers a chance to get the ball back with a chance to tie or win the game. By not calling any fouls committed against Shaq, it left open the opportunity for someone to make a shot instead of ending the Lakers chances by putting shaq on the line. Instead of going back to Sacramento up 3 games to 1, it’s 2-2 and THAT leads to the game 6 in question. The real issue was game 4 which would have basically put the series away…of course if the NBA was on the level. However, we know better.
That’s just a few instances of many. But let’s let the participants have their say.
This is from Rasheed Wallace:
“I still don’t think they (Cavaliers) beat us, we beat ourselves,” Wallace said. “And I think we also fell victim to that personal NBA thing where they are trying to make it a world game and get (television) ratings. They wanted to put their darling in there (the NBA Finals) and they did, and look what ended up happening.”This game ain’t basketball anymore, it’s entertainment,” Wallace said. “It’s starting to get like the WWF. There ain’t no real wrestling anymore either. It’s all fake.
This 1996 gem from Pat Riley:
“This whole thing is supposed to be about equality and it is not,” Riley said, referring to what he considered the pro-Chicago bent of the referees. “They won 72 games and we won 42, so there’s a disparity of 30 games. That’s the absurdity of it.”Likely speaking of ref Steve Javie, known for dishing techs like candy on Halloween, Riley said, “It seems like some guys are here to be seen. They have to ‘control’ the game.”
Here is a little tidbit from the Jeff Van Gundy incident:
Van Gundy started the saga by telling three reporters at the team hotel in Dallas that a referee not working the playoffs called him after the Rockets went up 2-0 and warned that Yao was mentioned in an online evaluation from supervisor of officials Ronnie Nunn.Van Gundy also told the reporters that referees “were looking at Yao harder because of Mark’s complaints” to the league office, referring to Cuban.
Wallace again as recently as three weeks ago:
“All that bull(bleep)-ass calls they had out there. With Mike [Callahan] and Kenny [Mauer] - you’ve all seen that (bleep),” Wallace said. “You saw them calls. The cats are flopping all over the floor and they’re calling that (bleep). That (bleep) ain’t basketball out there. It’s all (bleeping) entertainment.
There is plenty more where that came from, but you get the point. Not a lot of players are willing to bite the million dollars hand that feeds them, but look close and you will see plenty of quotes on the same issue.
The Media:
So the usual suspects in the media chime in with their “we would have known about this if it was true” excuses. Please. Baseball players kept STEROIDS IN THEIR LOCKERS, but these geniuses had no clue for a decade and now act as if they were the ones who rid the game of steroids. These same jock sniffers now claim that accusations of improprieties are absurd because they have no inkling about any of this. Rick Bucher of ESPN blames the rogue ref swallowing Stern’s Kool-aid at every turn. Any journalist worth anything would have screamed bloody murder when the Pal Gasol heist was made and demanded Stern do something in the name of the best interests of the game ala Bowie Kuhn, Pete Rozelle and other responsible commissioners. Instead they hailed Mitch Kupchak for his shrewd business savvy. Please.
How in the world can a full season go by with nary a mention of Tim Donaghy except for an occasional blurb on a ticker. Every day we heard about steroids for close to two years at the very least. THIS MAN FIXED THE OUTCOMES OF GAMES FOR YEARS AND WE GET NOTHING FOR NINE MONTHS UNTIL NOW? No questions if he is the only one? We take Stern at his word? How does Stern know? Where is the media-the self-proclaimed watchdogs of our sports culture? They are at lavish press feedings pregame. They are in the studios of ESPN who seem to have just about every writer on their payroll. Can we really expect ESPN to handle this issue, as anything but an attack on their house being they and their parent company ABC are shills for the league? It is intellectually dishonest for reporters to deny the grumblings that have always been in locker rooms in the NBA about the way this league goes about its business. They know better.
But the media has a problem. They don’t cover wrestling because it’s a fraud in their holier than thou sports world. I have no clue about wrestling, but what I do admit is that they let you know up front it’s a farce and therein lies the rub. The NBA has been manipulating outcomes for years. What would this do to a sportswriter who are every condescending moment, has trashed “conspiracy theorists” as loons and kooks. What it should do is get off it’s well fed pregame asses and do some actual investigative work instead of swallowing David Stern’s BS hook, line and stinker. They won’t though. Why bite the hand that literally feeds them? Instead they beat up the messenger like they did Jose Canseco until he unraveled their incompetence, then they tried to act as if it was them who took steroids down all along.
The real problem in the NBA right now is David Stern is upset. Donaghy stepped on his territory. HE is the only one who gets to manipulate games and how dare Donaghy try to elbow him out.
Referees:
No one in the media can figure out why this issue has never come up before. We already know why the media hasn’t reported it, but as the above quotes have shown, it’s been out there for years. Why haven’t referees talked? Who is going to talk? A disgraced Hugh Hollins, who sold his airline tickets and committed tax evasion along with an array of other officials in the league?
For those who don’t remember Hugh Hollins, let me refresh your memory.
The Knicks are playing the Bulls in the Eastern conference Finals in 1994-the year after Jordan’s first “retirement”. The Bulls lead the Knicks 2 games to 1 and the Knicks are down three with seconds to go. Hubert David pulls a shot from the top of the key as Scotty Pippen flies right by. The shot misses, the Bulls rebound. Game over. Or not? Hollins calls a foul on Pippen and awards three shots to Davis. Davis makes all three and the Knicks win in overtime and eventually win the series before losing to Houston in a seven game final. Watch the replay. Pippen is no where near Davis-wasn’t even close. But here was Hollins saving the NBA from a Jordan-less Bulls/rockets series. Instead the city of New York got excited over the prospects of their first championship in 20+ years and gave the NBA a seven game finals with all of New York watching. So the New York times reports that FBI investigators spoke with Hollins, who said they asked him about Dick Bavetta when most referees confirm that have never spoken to the FBI about anything, contradicting Stern’s claim that investigators have looked into all of this. The next week or so will show everyone the intensity of the Stern spin machine. Every ref will come out of the woodwork claiming they spoke to the feds and the media will swallow it all no questions asked. It’s a joke. Back to Hollins. Stern wants us to ignore the words of a “convicted felon” (Donaghy) because the fact that he has committed a crime makes him unreliable. What about Hollins? Does the same go for him being that he admitted to breaking federal law by not reporting his income from the sale of first class airline tickets? (A federal crime, by the way). So can we take Stern’s advice and ignore Hollins because he is an admitted criminal?
Stern, on television talking about the integrity of the NBA officials, makes me laugh and he should make you laugh too. In a 2005 story on the Van Gundy affair in the New York Times, Selena Roberts wrote “The N.B.A. doesn’t like to acknowledge the potential presence of a cheating gene in its midst. In the late 90’s, more than 20 league officials were hit with tax-evasion charges when they exchanged their first-class tickets for coach seats and kept the change. Two years ago, in court documents filed by Karla Knafel, a former mistress of Michael Jordan’s, the official Eddie F. Rush was described as the matchmaker who played cupid for the clandestine couple. Tax cheating, wife cheating. It is not so difficult to assume that deceptive practices could transfer to the basketball court, but the league doesn’t view it that way.” Roberts ended her piece with this “Stern barely wants to consider that possibility. He isn’t running an investigation of Van Gundy’s allegations to uncover an officiating conspiracy; Stern is beginning it as a scare tactic against the next coach who wants to speak out. It is much cleaner to isolate this controversy to Van Gundy - and localize the N.B.A.’s image pain - than to consider an alternate culprit to the game’s integrity.”
The chickens have now come home to roost, but Stern’s pattern of shooting the messenger instead of attacking the problem is still common place . Compare Stern’s reactions to that of Bud Selig and consider the kind of abuse baseball received from the media for not addressing the steroid problem and then compare the utter silence of the media when Stern fines coaches or players after letting the cat out of the bag, while dismissing any hint of conspiracy as a whack job theory. Nevertheless, let’s address the integrity issue of the officials that Stern always refers to. Here is factual information on some very prominent officials in the NBA. You be the judge:
Joe Crawford, a former National Basketball Association referee, was sentenced to six months of house arrest and three years’ probation yesterday for Federal income tax fraud.
Crawford was one of eight N.B.A. referees accused of downgrading first-class airline tickets purchased by the league and pocketing the difference without reporting it on his income tax.
Crawford, 47, apologized at his sentencing in United States District Court. Crawford, an N.B.A. official for 21 years, pleaded guilty July 1 to one count of tax fraud. He resigned the same day. (New York Times October 3, 1998)
I could copy and paste every story but let’s just list a few of the culprits. Mike Mathis, Darrel Garretson, Kenny Mauer, Bennett Slavatore, Jess Kersey, Ronnie Nunn, Hugh Hollins…well you get the picture. How can it be that most of the officials involved in this scandal were hired back by the league and not a word from the amen chorus at ESPN or Peter Vescey about what it looks like for the league to have referees who have obviously lied and committed fraud for a few thousand dollars, running their games each night-all being posted on the big boards in Vegas? That doesn’t make you pause-at least for a moment- about their integrity and at what price will/can they be bought?
Just so you don’t think they all made an “honest” mistake, consider this from an interview with Crawford about the tax fraud:
“Referee: Why did you do it?
Crawford: In our collective bargaining agreement, it reads that we can make money on our plane tickets. I made the mistake of not putting it on my W2. If the government deems me to be a criminal - and I’ve already pleaded guilty to the charges - then so be it….”
So what Crawford is saying is that in their CBA they were allowed to sell their seats back and keep money from the sale. What they were not allowed to do was not report it to the IRS. I could understand if one or two refs “forgot” to put it on their W-2, but it makes me wonder when you have so many doing it, if there wasn’t a “plan” so to speak in place for them all not to report it so as to not alert the IRS about any of the others. (Which there seems to have been) It seems a no brainer that their failure to report tens of thousands of dollars to the IRS was done on purpose to protect each other and thereby allowing at the very least, the question to be asked, what else have they conspired to do together?
Additionally, how was it that Stern hired them back so soon after their convictions? Did he have to? Did some officials know things about what goes on in the NBA? Why would Stern leave himself open to such questions unless he had to? Baseball in contrast, has still not re-hired Umpires for doing far less than committing federal crimes, a few year back.
I won’t pass any judgment on referees who hid anywhere between 10, 000-100,000 from the IRS, but it does beg the question at the very least, what else would these guys do for money. Here is a little known story by NBC News, which is stunning and has amazingly never been reported as far as I can tell by ESPN, Stephan A Smith or the league lapdog Peter Vescey. The most stunning fact of this following story, will amaze you and I will save it for the end. Here are brief parts of the story-combined- filed by John Walters of NBCsports.com soon after the story broke last July:
“Ed T. Rush was hired as an NBA official when he was 24 years old. Joey Crawford began refereeing NBA games at the age of 25. Tim Donaghy, the referee who allegedly bet thousands of dollars on games the past two seasons, became an NBA ref shortly after his 27th birthday.
What do these three referees, all of whom have had anything but inconspicuous careers, have in common besides their precocity? All three have Philadelphia roots. In fact, one of the most startling facts to arise from the Donaghy scandal, which the New York Post broke last Friday, is that Donaghy is one of four referees who worked games in the NBA last season to have graduated from the same high school: Cardinal O’Hara in suburban Springfield, Pa….. with all the AAU, high school, junior college and college games that take place each winter, and with every last one requiring officials to work them, isn’t it rather unlikely that one city-Philly-could produce such a bounty of cream-of-the-crop talent?…Is that strange? That four basketball referees from Philadelphia all ascended to the highest level of their profession before their 31st birthday? That Rush would have been the NBA’s Director of Officiating during the time when both Callahan and Malloy (ed. Two other referees from Cardinal O’Hara) were hired? And that even before then, he would have wielded a great deal of influence as one of the league’s true veteran figures?”
While that all in and of itself should give everyone serious concerns, consider that two of the bookies involved in the Donaghy scandal also attended Cardinal O’Hara high school. Now reread what Walters wrote above and tell me everything is kosher in the NBA.
I am not suggesting others were into what Donaghy was, but it sure seems like there is some kind of old boy network going on. Think about the odds. There are sixty (60) NBA officials and to think that five of them came from the same neighborhood, let alone the SAME HIGH SCHOOL, should at the very least be cause for alarm in the offices of the NBA. But Stern doesn’t bat an eye. Amazing.
The League
Another very under reported fact was this from Donaghy’s attorney as per the Las Vegas review-journal:
Lauro also suggested Donaghy told investigators about the gambling activities of other NBA officials, and the attorney asserted the league might have “pressured” the U.S. attorney’s office “into shutting down this prosecution to avoid the disclosure of information unrelated to Tim’s conduct.”
Anyone who understands how complex and how long the NBA manipulation of games has been going on has no doubts that the league office is doing everything they can to keep this from getting out. All you have to do is think about the entire Donaghy affair and how it was absent from ESPN (an NBA TV partner) for months and no one even thought twice about the fact that an NBA REFEREE WAS FIXING GAMES. Are we to believe that he was a lone gunman so to speak? That the referees who hid their money from the IRS would pass on an opportunity to make a few grand here and there especially if they were acquainted with bookies from their hometowns? One would think that it could be possible. The NBA doesn’t blink. The Las Vegas review Journal explains just how uncooperative the NBA office has been with Vegas and the men who know.
“Donaghy left fingerprints on his work, but in which games did he potentially affect the outcome, and how did he do it?
Ken White, a former bookmaker who serves as LVSC’s chief operating officer, has looked for those answers. He researched betting trends involving the former referee and sent his report to the NBA last fall.
“They never called back to discuss it or anything,” White said. (ed. There’s a surprise). Conducting his own investigation was R.J. Bell of Las Vegas-based Pregame.com. Bell studied moves in betting lines and outlined 19 games that Donaghy refereed during the 2006-07 season that could raise red flags.
“At every stage of the controversy, the NBA only has been willing to admit what was readily obvious,” Bell said. “And at every stage it has gotten bigger. “As more information is released on the Donaghy scandal, the more incriminating the facts become.”
I don’t want to get too lost in this information about Donaghy because I think he is a nobody in the bigger scheme of NBA game manipulation, but suffice it to say that studies in Vegas revealed that in 15 of Donaghy’s games where the line moved by 11 _ points, big bettors won 15 of 15 games. However, after going into a few more games in depth, the article writes this stunner:
“The highest-profile game on Donaghy’s resume was Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals between Phoenix and San Antonio on May 12, 2007. The Spurs were 4-point favorites and won, 108-101.
Donaghy was part of a three-man crew, and assigning blame solely to him for what was considered one of the worst-officiated games of that NBA season is unfair. Of course, when highlighting a small number of games or isolating trends, a case could be made against most referees. The FBI’s case is ongoing, and while the public waits for more to be revealed, Stern has attempted to minimize the problem by repeatedly insisting all is said and done.
“From the beginning, the initial statements that came out-it was isolated, no other referees were involved-were kind of ridiculous,” said Steve Cofield, an ESPN Radio host in Las Vegas. “I think there’s a lot more to the story.
“The NBA has done a nice job of somehow managing the story. Does the NBA have that much pull where they can go to federal prosecutors and say, ‘Keep quiet.’ That’s the problem.There’s too many questions.”
What is amazing through all of this is how the NBA has managed to do what it always does to a witless fan base and use its slight of hand to keep the hounds away. Blame everyone, but the true culprits. There is something truly amiss in the NBA and years from now when the facts are known, sportswriters around the globe will be bellyaching about how they knew something was wrong….we have heard that song and dance before.
In all of this, I give credit to Mike Wilbon, who has at least questioned why the NBA is offering no true response to the allegations. As much as I like Mike, it will be short lived as his new gig at ABC and esteemed status at ESPN, will soon force him to silence up because the NBA wants to go on as if nothing has happened. It was good while it lasted Michael. Vescey and his ilk will still shill for the league because for them to admit that the league is manipulating games makes them akin to the teenage boys in the fathers’ basement writing about the WWF with their pants around their ankles. Worthless words about a worthless league.
Stern, ever the lawyer, stands by his tainted men and refuses to releases any information on the NBA’s internal “independent” investigation (done by an old crony of Stern’s) until after the Donaghy case is finished. Another surprise.
As to the thought of doing what every other sports league does and have an independent office out of Stern’s control run the NBA officials, Stern, in his usual smugness, blew it off. “Stern dismissed Los Angeles Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson’s idea about having referees governed by an independent group, not wanting to surrender control over whistle blowers even with being seen as a potential conflict of interest. “I think that would not be a wise management decision,” Stern said.” Really? It seems to me it’s exactly what this poor excuse for a sports league needs. But Stern, ever the pompous administrator, would not elaborate on why that would be such a bad business decision. Easy for me to figure out….
I could go on and on for hours, but I will end it here, although I may just continue at some point later on. The only question I have is why has the media ignored the issue? As I said before, for media guys to admit the NBA is the fraud that it is, they would have to come to terms with the fact that the “league” they cover, is anything but. I have laid out at least four specific games and the reasons behind them and can reference quite a few more. Most often when I bring this up, most people say that it makes some sense until you get to the Spurs? How have the Spurs won those championships?
For me, that the easiest one of all.
I don’t think it’s a secret that the NBA has an image problem and Stern and everyone else knows it, which is why he instituted a dress code. The NBA was actually suffering from many problems, but the most obvious and important one to get under control-more than TV ratings-was the image that the league had become a safe haven for thugs. The answer to the Spurs question, is the NBA’s anti-thug. Tim Duncan. Duncan wins two championships in the last three years and we don’t hear a thing about the thugs in the league anymore. The PR spin master, as he has done with Donaghy, uses his lawyer-ese subterfuge to get everyone to take his or her eyes off the ball.
It is simply because of this that the NBA will always be under a cloud of suspicion. David Stern’s unwillingness to play it straight and his arrogant and pompous attitude, even now with this scandal, will have his willing apologists in the media move these stories off the front pages in order to keep his smoke and mirrors league afloat. To the media I ask this last question. What other league has ever changed their playoff sequencing after the season had already started-ie the middle of the season-like the NBA did a few years back when Shaq was hurt early on and with the Lakers languishing in 7th place or thereabouts. Stern changed the opening round playoff series-autonomously mind you-from best of five to best of seven. Who ever heard of that? Change the playoff structure AFTER the season had already begun? By the NBA by laws was he even allowed to do that? (I have no idea) To me it was easy to see why he did it. He needed to let the golden goose to go as far as it could in the playoffs. Teams might have a chance to beat Shaq 3 out of 5. But 4 out of 7? While I know it can always be manipulated, they also have to make sure it doesn’t get too close for comfort. Sometimes players just miss shots, Reggie Miller hits a mess of threes in ten seconds or Derek Fisher hits a three with 0.04 on the clock, turning even the best-laid plans to waste. One thing Stern has always been good at is knowing who butters his ratings bread and having Shaq and Kobe around is a lot easier for him than not.
The one thing I was amazed at when he switched the process mid season, was why no one in the media questioned the integrity of it all. Probably too busy envisioning all the tasty food those new playoff pre game meals will provide.
In conclusion, I know most of you will view this piece as beneath you. You always have, which is why we are where we are in the NBA. Just a simple dereliction of duty. Ask yourself when you heard about Joey Buttafuco did you subscribe to the “walks like a duck, talks like a duck….theory” or did you need to see more evidence? Or when you heard about OJ? Or Ray Caruthers? Where there is smoke there is fire, people, and it’s raging here. At least enough fire where you can no longer say this NBA is manipulated thing is just for the kooks. Will you sleep on this like you did on the steroids issue?
I assume you will, because doing real investigative journalism is lot harder than screaming at Tony Realli or writing a puff piece about Kobe Bryant or Ray Lewis. So, in closing, I think it’s best to finish where I started. Dick Ebersol and NBC. All you need to know about Ebersol, is the three letters XFL. He chose to get involved with Vince Mcmahon, another shady character who oversees a “sport” where the outcome is also manipulated. While the XFL didn’t last long, Ebersol proved what his interests were when jumped into bed with the WWF. As he did with the NBA, he wanted to know he had a guaranteed product.
To those of us who know better, it wasn’t the first time Ebersol chose to bet on a “sure thing”.
June 16th, 2008 at 11:48 am
now that’s a comment
June 16th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Doug, I was a fan of yours since ‘92 when you came in with the Lakers. I’m a Laker fan. That ‘02 series was one of the best series I have ever seen. But the allegations are that there was pressure for there to be a seven game series. This was in the interests of Vegas, not in the interests of the Lakers. There was lots of questionable refereeing and unusual things in that series. Kobe getting food poisoning, the disparity in free throws in game 5 in favor of the Kings. But again, it wasn’t that the Kings were victims……..it was that whoever the refs were in league with (pun sort of intended) put them under the gun (pun again sort of intended) wanted a longer series in order to secure greater profits for Vegas.
June 16th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Doug, nobody blackballed you, you just suck.
June 16th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Yeah and your crazy ass wife is THE REASOn you are not playing, besides sucking.
June 16th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
To the long comment above…(yawn) and would you like some cheese with your whine?
June 16th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
[…] For those of you that still remember that whipped guy Doug Christie, take a look at his latest blog entry on MVN. […]
June 16th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Don’t listen to them DC, you did get blackballed, and you were the much better team
June 16th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Oooo Derek, you must be one of those fans that thinks the NBA is on the level…hahahaha….dude that’s not a whine…you must not be married and I was wondering Derek, how long did you play in the league being that you seem t be an expert on who sucks…from the looks of it, seems the only thing you know abut basketball is that it’s hard to play….
June 16th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
[…] taking a ton of heat for same. He also thinks that, yes indeed, that playoff series was fixed, and he can still outplay most training camp invites but his relationship is the first thing on teams minds. Do you think […]
June 16th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Chill out, Orkie. Derek’s a hockey fan and there’s no need to bring his wife in to this. I thought you had a good comment. Where’s YOUR blog?
For the DC haters - tell me Doug wouldn’t have looked good in these Finals wearing the Green? House, Rondo, Cassell, Tony Allen - I’m sure he can hang with that. 90%, easy. Plus, Kobe wouldn’t be having his way. Whenever Pierce, Allen or Posey guard him, they’ve been taking him out of his game. That’s what Doug does.
June 16th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
I was never a DC or Kings fan, but anyone who doesn’t enjoy being “spoon fed” and isn’t in total denial knows that series, along with many others, have been more than shady.
Doug Christie was never a “great player”. I’m pretty sure in the back of his mind he knows that. However, he was a very solid player. He played over 10 plus seasons, which he was very productive. More importantly, he played a major role on a great team in Sacramento. He was a great defender, who often defended the great players of the league. He understood how to play team basketball, which for some reason is hard for a lot of today’s kids to understand. So to come on here and say “you suck”, doesn’t really say much at all. If anything, all it says is how ignorant you are.
Hell, I have just as much of a reason to dislike Christie as anyone. I’m a Magic fan. We traded Cuttino Mobley for Christie only to have him flake out on Orlando. Not sure exactly what went wrong, but I do remember an incident with him bringing in a bag of bone spurs to prove that he was injured.
I’m pretty sure I’ll never know what went wrong with Christie from Orlando on. Regardless whatever the case was, or that I felt my Magic got screwed in the deal, or all the stories you hear about him and his wife…that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t mean that he wasn’t a productive player in the NBA for many seasons.
Orkie Glazer, that was the longest and single best comment I’ve ever read. We need more people like you in the media, and here on MVN. It’s always good to hear from a person who isn’t scared to believe in something-when that something is different than what they’re told to believe; especially when it’s all well supported.
This is what it all comes down to; the entire world revolves around money. Money, even more so, greed; affects everyone and everything. To pretend that this doesn’t play a role in what goes on in the NBA and sports, is laughable, but even more so sad.
But I get it; it’s easier to believe that something you love is genuine. Everyone wants to believe that what they love isn’t tainted, regardless if it is. Sometimes I wish I was blind to the facts, but I’ve never been that type of person. You know, like the old saying goes: “ignorance is bliss”.
June 16th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
[…] – Doug Christie Black-Balled?:Doug Christie is sick to his stomach about the news of Tim Donaghy, and also sees a connection between that series, and why he has not played in the NBA this past season. Agree or disagree, it is always good to hear straight from an athlete’s mouth. [MVN - The World of Doug Christie] […]
June 16th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Doug-
If you’re sick to your stomach now, I was sick to my stomach back then while watching Game 6 of that series. I felt like I had just gotten done watching a WWF event in which the results are fixed based on the crowd’s reaction and what the refs want to see happen.
That said, you come off as an incredibly self-absorbed, me-first clown with this post. It’s all about you and your wife. Your relationship with your crazy-ass wife is the reason you’re not in the league? Dude, I knew you had flamed out the minute you flamed out with the Magic when they traded Cat Mobley for you. They wanted your then-34-year old ass to be a defensive presence, and you were a freaking bust. Not only could you not guard a lamp post, but you shot 21 percent from downtown, and instead of helping the Magic get to the playoffs, they hit rock-bottom, including a seven-game losing streak and losing 12 of their last 16 games. They were a winning team when they got you and then they became bums.
And YOU are saying that you outplayed 90 percent of the guys in Portland??? What were you last offseason, 37? You outplayed the young guys on a Portland squad littered with young talent? Guys like Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez, Martell Webster, Travis Outlaw…guys in their early 20s? Yeah, I’m real sure that your wife was the reason the Blazers didn’t want you.
And Jon….you’re honestly telling me that Kobe wouldn’t have his way with this guy? Dude’s 38-years old and you’re telling me he’d somehow contain Kobe? I agree that you can’t stop Kobe, you can only contain him, but to say that a 38-year old Doug Christie can even begin to contain Kobe freaking Bryant to any freaking degree is a joke. You’re better than that, dawg. You’re better than that. Don’t fall into the trap of getting on this guy’s nuts simply because he has a blog for MVN.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:28 am
Sacramento Kings
2002 True Champions
Thanks for this article DC. It’s really great from the point of view of a fan from the other side of the globe, to see one of his favourite players talk from his heart. No fake commercial words.
We all know that “They” means “David Stern and his puppets” but of course no player or executive has the balls to say anything because the NBA has become a “posh dictatorship” with a dress code and superficial formal behaviour.
This article is an oasis in the NBA desert of opinions.
Thanks DC,
You and your family take care.
June 17th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Amar,
Let me remind you of a guy named Grant Hill. Yeah, he didn’t live up to expectations in Orlando and was pretty much a shell of a player for five years before making a comeback. He had glass ankles back then. But he did come back and last year played a supporting role as a starter for a playoff team.
Doug’s problem was also with ankles. Sometimes it takes a few years to get back to where you were. Now that he’s fully healed, he tried to get back in the league. However, it’s very hard to get back once you’re out. The league doesn’t have room for guys on their way out. Especially those teams who end up with at least six picks in every draft (Blazers).
Yes, Doug can defend. He was never a big time scorer or lights out shooter, but he was a lockdown defender. No doubt he could fill a role for both teams in these Finals.
In fact, I’m pretty sure Doug would be an upgrade over half the guards on the Cavs roster.
June 17th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Orkie:
Interesting conspiracy theories, but you lost me when you tried to imply that the NBA was fixing games in favor of the Knicks.
If the league is trying to help the big-market teams win, how do you explain the fact that the New York Knicks haven’t won a championship in 35 years, and have now gone nearly a decade without a winning season?
And how do you explain the fact that 4 of the last 5 NBA championships have gone to the Spurs and the Pistons? It doesn’t make much sense for the league to fix games in favor of teams like those, who generally get such low TV ratings.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:58 am
One team that really confuses me is the 04 Pistons. With the mouthy Rasheed Wallace and Coach “say what’s on my mind” Larry Brown, how in the world did they defeat the Karl Malone-Gary Payton entitlement machine? It wasn’t even close either. S-W-E-E-P.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
On the guy with the really long comment, on the parts I skimmed over he makes a couple good points.
Especially the phantom call on Scottie Pippen, eliminating a Jordan-less Bulls team from the playoffs and allowing the Knicks to move on. I will always question the integrity of that call.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Damian,
Thank you very much. The blog is agida.blogspot.com please tell your freinds…lol but thank you again
Joe,
You have to read the entire post and yes the knicks were a ratings bonanza back in the early 90’s and I ask you this…what difference does it make if the knicks win in 7 or lose in 7 in the finals-they got the same ratings either way?
As for the Spurs I addressed that too…read the entire post.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
yea the refs really screwed you while you were choking away that HUGE lead…..DC you werent blackballed man, you lost your jumper to father time who always It sounds to me like you and Jose Canseco are drinkin from the same crazy-keg. Your wife is hot.
June 19th, 2008 at 2:06 am
Jon-
Grant Hill at his best was an All-Star. Doug Christie at his best couldn’t even sniff Grant Hill’s jock. Comparing a guy who at his peak was a superstar to a guy who even at his best is a role player is not appropriate.
And who would Christie outplay on the Cavs? Here are the guards on the Cavs roster. Tell me which one of them you’d take Christie over:
Daniel Gibson: Heck no.
Delonte West: Possibly better than Gibson. Double HELL NO.
Wally Szczerbiak: Overrated and overpaid, but would run circles around Christie. So heck no.
Sasha Pavlovic: A piece of crap, to be honest. But not worse than a 38-year old Doug Christie. Heck no.
Damon Jones: The only guy who makes it interesting, but DJ’s shot is way better. Although he couldn’t even guard me one on one, and I’m an embarrassment off the dribble. I’d still say no, but not heck no.
June 20th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Wally would run circles around Doug? No, Wally is a shooter who never ran circles around anyone. Frankly, his shot isn’t all that great anymore either.
Pavlovic - agree with you there.
Jones - he can shoot, but that’s it. I’d rather have Doug. Good luck getting that three off.
I guess I’m still counting Eric Snow and what’s up with Shannon Brown? Both of those guys can’t hold a candle to Christie.
You forgot Devin Brown, who actually makes your argument.
As for comparing to Grant Hill, I’m only referring to the injury portions of their careers. Doug is healed now and capable of getting back like Grant has. You forget that when healthy, Doug was one of the top 3 defenders at the shooting guard position.
June 20th, 2008 at 6:59 am
By the way, I love Delonte and Boobie…so I’m leaving them out of this.
June 23rd, 2008 at 4:59 pm
[…] Doug Christie is none too happy. […]
June 30th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Orkie,
Great bit of work. I didn’t see it anywhere but the biggest fix of all occurred in game 7 of the Western Conference finals in 1993 between Phoenix and Seattle. I am a Suns fan and live in Phoenix and was at the game so you can understand what I say is very true. The league had a motive and an agenda which was obvious from the very start. They wanted MVP Barkley and the Suns agains Superstar Jordan and the Bulls. What a ratings Bonanza for the finals. The joke started right from the beginning as the Suns paraded to the line repeatedly. The Sonics were called for many phantom foulls with little or no contact. I sat in the 8th row and saw it all. It was an embarrassment as a Suns fans to be given a free trip to the finals. The Suns had a good team but the outcome of this game was decided by the league and it’s officials long before it started. The Suns shot an NBA record 64 free throws making 57 in a 123-111 win. The Sonics had three of their top four scorers foul out, Shawn Kemp, Ricky Pierce, and Eddie Johnson. Nate McMillan was saddled with fouls and finished with five. Only Danny Ainge had five for Phoenix.
I tried to find a box score on the web to check and see who the officials were as I had forgotten. I found one box but no officials were listed. I called a friend who worked at a Phoenix Newspaper and he went to the microfilm department to look it up. Lo and behold, the referees were Dick Bavetta, soon to be Supervisor of Officials Ed Rush, and Mike Mathis who later plead guilly to tax evasion in the IRS referee airline ticket scandal. “Three good Comapany men”. It was the biggest most obvious fix I had ever witnessed with plenty of motive. That’s right 64 free throws in a 48 minute game where the 2 teams are supposed to be fairly equal. No team had shot more than 41 free throws in a game and most shot between 20-30.
David Stern spent the last few weeks talking about the singing criminal Donaghy, yet he hired back several referees who plead guillty or served time in the IRS referee Airline Scandal to officiate NBA games after they plead guilty or spent 5 months in prision as Ken Mauer did as he tried to beat it in court. Mauer also served 5 months home arrest and 800 Community Service hours. By the way referee Mauer officiated games 2 and 5 in the NBA finals. Where was Stern’s honesty and integrity there? Did these guys have too much on the league and he had to hire them back? It makes no sense. Why accuse Donaghy of singing for a lighter sentence, that the judge said Donaghy would not get than the already suggested sentence that federal prosecutors proposed of 33 months? She already thought the sentence was too light for the type of crime here. Stern’s statements had no credibility and Donahgy could have received 25 years so in order for them to propose such a reduction Donaghy must have been some substantial help. The league as the “victim” legally in this case does not have to release any details of this case and I suspect we won’t get much from Stern after the July 14th sentencing and much released will be spun in favor of the league. For Stern to call Donaghy a convicted singing criminal and then stick convicted criminal Ken Maurer out there to do two final’s games, well……….I don’t think I have to say any more.
By the way if you can find a copy of the late Earl Strom’s book, “Five Decades in the NBA” around it is worth your time to buy and read it. The league didn’t like the book and bought all copies it got it’s hands on off the shelf, yet some got out about 1992. In it Strom talks about the league asking it’s officials in the ’70s to give all marginal calls to the home team in an effort to boost lagging attendance,by allowing the home teams a better chance to win. Strom would have no part in it, He worked a game with Bavetta at NJ with Philly the visitor. There were 2 men crews at the time not 3 as today. Strom made a late call which he felt was correct against the home NJ team, which appeared to have given Philly the win. Bavetta came runnig in and overruled the call and gave the home team NJ the win. Bavetta was an ex Brooklyn cop (as was Delaney, but not from Brooklyn), but that didn’t stop Strom from beating Bavetta black and blue after the game. As he tossed Bavetta out of the referee locker room, he told him if he ever overruled one of his calls again the next beating would be worse. Strom holds the highest winning % of road team wins of any NBA official at 43 %. A fair guy with a great book if you can find it.
Anyway I thought I should bring up the 1993 game which many aren’t old enough to remember or have forgotten it. Can you spell corruption. They don’t do it every year or series but only if they felt it would enhance TV ratings substantially. ——-Larry from Phoenix, Az.
July 10th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
What the hell happened?????????????????????????????
July 10th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Dont respond>>>>>>>>>>>>>
July 21st, 2008 at 10:51 am
I’m a Lakers fan, but I have to admit game 6 was a joke.
Although I hate the Kings, I have to say that they the best team that season; they were robbed
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:57 pm
[…] with this one? Or better yet, let??s see where I end?? I am devastated to the point of feeling …http://mvn.com/dougchristie/2008/06/15/the-kings-christies-and-fans-were-stiffedand-its-still-happen…JackieChristie.com© 2007, Jackie Christie, Inc. - All Rights […]
August 29th, 2008 at 1:23 am
i am die hard lakers fan, fucking hate dc, but i have to admit that game 6 officating was a little over the top, in matter of fact, it felt great when the laker won the title that year but i didn’t feel like they were the true champions
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