BOSTON -- A source tells 7Sports that the gambler at the center of the 2008 NBA betting scandal says 13 referees were involved.
Jimmy "The Sheep" Battista pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transmit wagering information in connection with disgraced NBA official Tim Donaghy and served 15 months in federal prison.
The source also tells 7Sports that Battista claims he has the phone records to prove his contact with these 13 referees.
Source: 13 refs involved in NBA gambling scandal
Per some NBC TV Affiliate in Boston:
If this pans out the reffing scandal may break like the steroids one in baseball. More and more info coming out in a negative way for the league. I'm interested to see how the league responds to this.
Personally, I never believed in refs fixing games, so this would be extremely disappointing to me if it turns out to be true.
As a side note, it's a day later, and the story hasn't been picked up by any major news outlet. It makes me wonder if a small network affiliate is out headline grabbing without much legit information.
Personally, I never believed in refs fixing games, so this would be extremely disappointing to me if it turns out to be true.
As a side note, it's a day later, and the story hasn't been picked up by any major news outlet. It makes me wonder if a small network affiliate is out headline grabbing without much legit information.
13 Comments
Newskoolbulls said:
I am happy about this news, why should only Tim be looked bad upon when other refs are clearly at fault.
jumpmanjay said:
it doesnt bother me to the point of boycotting watching games, but there are plenty of times where there is CLEARLY something else going on...some type of bias or whatever you want to call it, because the game being officiated isnt the game i am watching.
Doug Thonus said:
I hope it becomes a huge story just in the sense that it might actually get the league to do a better job grading officials and taking action over the games that look fishy.
MrHappy said:
Happy Thanksgiving to all Bulls fans, even Doug...hehe.
By the way, did anybody see what Marcus Camby did tonight? How about 15 points and 21 rebounds. The Bulls might want to go after him at some point this year.
As far as the GAMBLING issues go, I'm sure David Stern is just THRILLED. He'll be forceful, if it becomes a bigger story. He's the master of spin and damage control.
Matthew said:
Hea remember when we had this conversation before Doug and I talked about ref's calling bad calls on purpose, we'll I'm not saying this proves I'm right, but its definatly looking more plausable today, also I think this was the same guy I talked to u about earlier who was going to turn everyone in and right a book about it....I hate NBA refs, and I'd rather have those new, former NBA refs, even though they're unexperienced get used to the league and improve then the refs we have currently(that i believe cheat). That's why I wanted the strike to continue....I always sit back and go, hea, I might be a little paranoid, maybe I should cut them more slack, and say they don't cheat at all, then I see some games and the refing is atroucious, and inexcusably one sided, and if it's not on purpose, and if it's not cheating they're doing, then it leads me to one conclusion, they're not qualified to ref, so either way they should be fired....
Doug Thonus said:
Tim Donaghy was the guy you were talking about. At the time it looked like he was alone indebted into gamblers, there's still no evidence of a league conspiracy or any league participation in this which is what many people feel.
However, when you hear about one thing like this it's easier to believe that another thing exists for sure.
souleater7 said:
Good to know I'm not crazy for saying how fixed the games were. If you couldn't tell the NBA is fixed then your just lying to yourself or blind. Come on Doug you knew it was you just didn't want it to be.
Like 1.7% chance to get Rose and what do you know his home town lucks into the #1 pick.
Oh and Lebron James the same thing.
I won't even go into some of the crooks they hire in pro sports. Ex cops and thugs.
I believe it.
Studying under Dick Bavetta for 13 years was like pursuing a graduate degree in advanced game manipulation. He knew how to marshal the tempo and tone of a game better than any referee in the league, by far. He also knew how to take subtle — and not so subtle — cues from the NBA front office and extend a playoff series or, worse yet, change the complexion of that series.
The 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings presents a stunning example of game and series manipulation at its ugliest. As the teams prepared for Game 6 at the Staples Center, Sacramento had a 3–2 lead in the series. The referees assigned to work Game 6 were Dick Bavetta, Bob Delaney, and Ted Bernhardt. As soon as the referees for the game were chosen, the rest of us knew immediately that there would be a Game 7. A prolonged series was good for the league, good for the networks, and good for the game. Oh, and one more thing: it was great for the big-market, star-studded Los Angeles Lakers.
In the pregame meeting prior to Game 6, the league office sent down word that certain calls — calls that would have benefitted the Lakers — were being missed by the referees. This was the type of not-so-subtle information that I and other referees were left to interpret. After receiving the dispatch, Bavetta openly talked about the fact that the league wanted a Game 7.
"If we give the benefit of the calls to the team that's down in the series, nobody's going to complain. The series will be even at three apiece, and then the better team can win Game 7," Bavetta stated.
As history shows, Sacramento lost Game 6 in a wild come-from-behind thriller that saw the Lakers repeatedly sent to the foul line by the referees. For other NBA referees watching the game on television, it was a shameful performance by Bavetta's crew, one of the most poorly officiated games of all time.
Doug Thonus said:
This has nothing to do with the league fixing games. Donaghy was unwilling to testify under oath about involvement in other players in game fixing for the NBA, so his book manuscript excerpts aren't really interesting to me.
There's no way the lottery is fixed. Of the guys who are sure fire superstuds almost all of them went to locations that were bad for the league. Kevin Durant and Greg Oden went to two of the worst possible cities, and the odds of those teams winning the picks over better destinations for the league were really bad as well.
LeBron in Cleveland is a trainwreck for the league. Tim Duncan going to San Antonio when Boston had the highest odds was a train wreck for the league.
For years we had horrible finals matchups for the league, etc..
souleater7 said:
Sometimes you gotta throw a dog a bone. I don't think Stern rewards tanking.
Stern has been on record saying he thinks small markets are good for the league.
I agree with you those finals were snoozers but had the teams been more interesting maybe the results would have been different. Watching San Antonio is like watching paint dry. LeBron going one on five got pretty old.
I believe if there is a great deal of money involved things can get manipulated.
Seriously the KG trade had and the Gosol trades had to be encouraged by NY. How they shamefully promoted the Lakers and Celtics as a finals match up that was pretty odd. The Lakers and Celtics were headed down a dark road and the league saved them. I have no doubt there were under the table deals being made. Of course I have no proof only years of watching WWE I mean the NBA.
Even last season they tried everything they could to get LeBron in the Finals or to at least extend that series.
It's just my opinion.
Doug Thonus said:
Another great example of lack of conspiracy was that the league desperately wanted a Cavs/Lakers final last year to pit Kobe vs LeBron and didn't get it.
souleater7 said:
ESPN hyped it all season. Orlando was just a better team. I'm not saying the refs can just flat out make a team win. They can manipulate things.
Look how swayed the refs are at home games. The make up calls. If the league office wanted something done I believe they could help teams win.
Maybe I'm just bitter over that Hue Hollins call on Pip years ago.
souleater7 said:
You notice something is up when the games on TNT and Doug Collins is doing the games and there is a moment in the game where the ref completely blows the call and Doug Collins does his classic company man blind eye trick and tries to tell the viewing audience something different than what was being viewed. He basically ignores the play and changes the subject.
CN71 said:
Wow souleater...is that a helicopter following you? Yeesh you must be crazy (no offense if you really are, I'm just playin) :-)
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