Jun

11

Commissioner This One Is All On You!

Posted by Jeff Sack under SDC COMMENTARY 

In 1977 President Jimmy Carter helped to heal this great nation of ours, by granting amnesty, and pardoning the young men whose conscience would not allow them to fight in the Vietnam War. In 2007 NBA Commissioner David Stern granted amnesty and pardoned, those referees who broke NBA by-laws that made it a fireable offense for them to enter any kind of gambling establishment. In fact he went further than that by changing the by-laws. Instead of facing the issue head on Stern chose to make?like an ostrich and stick his head in the sand. And now it has come back to bite him in the butt.

Stern should have been strutting like a proud peacock on Tuesday in Los Angeles. The post season has been superb for the NBA, with great performances from Chris Paul, LeBron James, among others. The Finals are the Association’s and ABC’s dream match-up, the crown jewel of the NBA Celtics vs Lakers. Ratings are up, and the series so far has been great. But instead Stern found himself trying to put out a fire, and engaging in massive spin control.

The Association’s favorite sleazeball surfaced Tuesday as former NBA referee Tim Donaghy?talked of NBA?playoff games that he says were fixed. According to Donaghy without specifically?naming the teams, he is claiming through his attorney that game six of the 2002 NBA?playoff series between the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers?had the outcome determined by the officiating. Donaghy is claiming that the Association wanted the series to?go seven games, if the Kings had won the game the series would have ended in six. According to Donaghy, the officials called the game with a bias towards the?Lakers, assuring them the win. The Lakers would win the series and the NBA Championship. ?Former Kings’ center Scott Pollard?said he was not surprised by the news, that he had suspected all along the game’s outcome was determined by the officials.

Donaghy’s attorney released the information in a letter, that contained other charges of referees misconduct. Apparently the letter was written after the Association asked for the court to award them $1 million from Donaghy to pay for the cost of the investigation and the trial.?The Commissioner dismissed Donaghy’s claims out right stressing the fact that the former official is a convicted felon repeatedly. Stern?told reporters?”?My reaction to Donaghy’s lawyer are that clearly as the date of sentencing gets closer, and the things that he’s thrown against the wall haven’t stuck, he’s rehashing a variety of things that have been given to the U.S. Attorney and the FBI, fully investigated, and are baseless. We have been asked to cooperate for the last year by providing people and answering questions, and we’ve done that. And our understanding is that the investigation is just about wrapped up waiting for the sentencing of Mr. Donaghy, and as he continues desperately to somehow get out of the fact that he is subject to a longer sentence possibly than his co-conspirators, there are this continuing flow of allegations from, don’t forget, an admitted felon. So they’re baseless.”??

Is it just coincidental that Lakers coach Phil Jackson ripped the officials after game two on Sunday, and did not get fined by the NBA? I can’t remember the last time a coach or an owner complained about the officiating, and did not get fined, can you? That would seem to reflect the Association is quite nervous right about now.

After the Donaghy situation surfaced last year, Stern instigated an investigation into other officials transgressions. The information that came back the Commissioner, was that a very large?segment of NBA referees were guilty in one way shape or form. So instead of firing the officials or fining them, Stern swept the information under the rug. Then he changed the rules, so that the former transgressions were now allowed. Needless to say this did nothing to restore the credibility of the NBA.

If you are a regular reader of mine, you are aware that I was Sports Director for Metro Networks in Cleveland and covered the Cavaliers for over a decade. For years, intelligent knowledgeable sports fans, as well as some of my peers in the media, have asked me if I thought the NBA was “on the up and up“. I have never been asked that about the officiating in MLB, or the NFL. And this occurred long before Donaghy’s shenanigans were known about. My response has always been, that if I did not believe in the integrity of the NBA, I could never cover it. At that point it’s the WWE. But the Commissioner had a chance last year, to deal with this situation, instead he chose to ignore it. It is way past that point now.

? Copyright 2008 thesackattack.net



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