Is the Fix In?
June 11, 2008 – 10:31 am Posted by bryan in » NBA, morality
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No doubt that you’ve heard about Tim Donaghy’s recent revelations regarding misconduct by NBA referees in key playoff games. (If you haven’t, read here.) Though specific teams and referees are never mentioned, it’s clear from his statements that he is accusing the NBA of conspiring with other referees to fix the outcome of more than one playoff game.
The game drawing the most attention, and rightfully so, is Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals when the Lakers - on the brink of elimination - shot 27 free throws IN THE 4TH QUARTER to beat the Kings and force a Game 7. In fact, go back and read the AP recap of that game. Check out these quotes:
“I feel sorry for our team, because they did everything they could to win the game,” Sacramento coach Rick Adelman said. “It’s a shame, a real shame. … Our big guys get 20 fouls, and Shaq gets four. You tell me. Obviously, they got the game called the way they wanted to get it called.”
The officiating was so suspect, even Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson commented:
“There were some very interesting sequences in this game that were some eye-openers,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson admitted. “I’m sure we’ll want to take another look at them, both Rick and myself.”
ESPN’s Bill Simmons had this to say following that Lakers-Kings Series back in 2002:
What was the most disturbing subplot of the playoffs? Answer: The officiating, also the most disturbing subplot of the past four playoffs. If you examine the last four NBA playoff campaigns, during every situation where the league definitively “needed” one of the two teams involved to win — either to A) change the momentum of a series so it didn’t end prematurely, B) keep an attractive, big-market team alive in a series, or C) advance an attractive, big-market team to another round — the officiating appeared to be slanted towards the team that needed that game. I use the phrase “appeared to be,” because reviewing an official’s performance is purely subjective. Maybe I’m dead-wrong.
[regarding Game 6 between the Lakers and Kings] … LA needs a win to stay alive … from an officiating standpoint, the most one-sided game of the past decade … at least six dubious calls against the Kings in the fourth quarter alone … LA averaged 22 free throws a game during the first five games of the series, then attempted 27 freebies in the fourth quarter alone of Game 6 … rumors that David Stern wanted to pull a Vince McMahon and declare himself “The special guest referee” for this game prove unfounded.
The Lakers went on to win Game 7 against Sacramento (in OT) and beat the Nets for the NBA Championship that year.
If you’re wondering about the timing of Donaghy’s allegations, or the motives behind them, you’d do well to read Lester Munson’s analysis on ESPN.com. It should also be noted that David Stern has called the accusations “baseless”, and continues to refer to Donaghy as an “admitted felon” and a “convicted felon” - which he is.
My question is this: Do you think the NBA has conspired with referees in the past to affect the outcome of games? Yes or No.
Tags: Fixing Games, NBA, Poll, Tim Donaghy
5 Responses to “Is the Fix In?”
By James on Jun 11, 2008 | Reply
First off I am a huge Lakers fan and even I knew that game was not on the up and up. Donaghy has proved he is not to be trusted but I think there is merit to some of his allegations.
By Chris Hubbs on Jun 11, 2008 | Reply
Whether the fix is truly in or not, it certainly looks suspicious. If David Stern wants to help his league’s reputation, he needs to take action. At the moment he seems to think he can just ignore Donaghy’s allegations by writing him off as a felon and cheat. He’d be wiser to investigate and address the concerns instead.
By Deanna on Jun 11, 2008 | Reply
With this must suspicion, there has to be some measure of foundation to the allegation. Not investigating would only add fuel to the fire and no one can afford the cost of fuel these days!!
By bryan on Jun 11, 2008 | Reply
the one thing that bugs me about Stern is the way he keeps calling Donaghy names. Look David, we know he’s a felon. We haven’t forgotten. But “bad people” tell the truth too, not just the “good people”. The name calling is almost juvenile at this point.
I’ll also say that no other sport has this problem like the NBA does. As others have noted, there are multiple fouls on almost every play. The refs dictate the flow of the game, and the amount of free throw opportunities, giving them more influence than baseball and football refs by far. Not really sure how to fix that. Maybe if the Refs were not paid by the NBA, but were instead hired contractors? i dont know…
By buddy watts on Jun 12, 2008 | Reply
Why don’t they just start calling every foul on every play. The players would than have to adjust and actually play the game “legally.” You don’t have this problem in high school or college. Why the pro level? Here is a novel idea. Let’s start calling three steps traveling….