I am on record as saying that I believe former NBA referee Tim Donaghy when he says the refs in the NBA at best can be influenced and at worst are down right corrupt. If you recall, Donaghy was sent to jail after the feds found out he was gambling on NBA games, fixing some NBA games, and supplying inside information to the mob.
Donaghy, who will be doing an interview with North Station Sports tomorrow evening, has some interesting thoughts about this year’s NBA playoffs.
Specifically, he believes the NBA is trying to force a LeBron vs. Kobe NBA Finals by any means necessary.
You could say that is what they wanted last year as well and it didn’t work out, but there are some interesting statistics supporting Donaghy’s claims.
In the first three games of the Celtics vs. Cavaliers series, LeBron James had played 123 minutes (41, 43, 39) and only been called for three personal fouls. Considering how aggressive LeBron is on both the offensive and defensive ends, that seems a little suspect. That could just be a coincidence but this next stat is far more interesting.
Donaghy was given fourteen games to predict just based on whom the refs were for those particular games and he is currently…
13-1
Donaghy based his gambling scheme off a formula dependent on who would be the refs in certain games. Can the refs have that much influence?
That is not for me to say, but it is interesting to ponder.
Watching Game 4 of the Cavs vs. Celtics, there were several calls that even casual fans with no rooting interest would find awfully suspicious.
No need to be naive; a Cavs vs. Lakers series is much better for the NBA than say, a Magic vs. Suns series. It isn’t hard to believe there could be some subliminal suggestions to help.
David Stern has always said that Donaghy was a “rogue” official and was acting alone. He is insulting our intelligence with that. Hopefully whoever does make it to the NBA Finals will be there because they were the best teams – not the teams who got the “best refs.”