Donaghy Letter Alleges NBA Fixed Games

[Disco Volante]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3436401

Donaghy letter to court alleges refs altered games
ESPN.com
Updated: June 10, 2008, 6:34 PM ET

Jeff Van Gundy ultimately backed off comments that a referee told him that officials had targeted Yao Ming in the Houston Rockets 2005 first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks. Maybe he was right.

A letter sent to the sentencing court on behalf of convicted former referee Tim Donaghy outlines just such a plan. Donaghy's legal team is trying demonstrate his cooperation with a government investigation before he is sentenced on July 14 on felony charges alleging he took cash payoffs from gamblers and bet on games himself.

In other documents filed with the Brooklyn court, Donaghy's lawyers responded to the NBA's claim that he must pay $1 million in restitu
in Game 6 but lost two players to ejection, lost that game and ultimately the series.

It is not clear which series this account refers to.

Donaghy also alleges that team executives conspired with the league to prevent star players from being called for too many fouls or being ejected. He claimed that league officials told referees that doing so would "hurt ticket sales and television ratings."

According to the letter, when an official did eject a star player in the first quarter of a game in 2000, he was privately reprimanded.

In addition to game-altering allegations, Donaghy's letter claims that many officialy carry on relationships with team exectutives, coaches and players that violate their NBA contracts.

"Tim described one referee's use of a team's practice facility to exercise and another's frequent tennis matches with a team's coach," the letter states.

The NBA has not commented on Donaghy's allegations. Donaghy's attorney and prosecutors also declined to comment to The Associated Press on Tuesday. Donaghy faces up to 33 months in prison.

The game in specific being Game 6 of the 2002 Western Confrence Finals between the Lakers and Kings.

 

[SVN]

anyone listen to phil jacskon now ? he was asked about the lakers kings game. he says the game 5 was stolen from them on a bad call .
What a jackass ?
People keep calling BB a sore loser but this guy is just complaining all the time ....
BB at least credits his opponents and moves on.

 

[Kdo5]

And the Lakers have the gall to call Game 2 fixed. F*cking ***** wipes.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

And the Lakers have the gall to call Game 2 fixed. F*cking ***** wipes.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8231176/Report:-Donaghy-says-refs-fixed-playoff-series


Anybody who watched the Lakers-Kings series in 2002 had to have doubts about the calls in the last few games......

 

[Kdo5]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8231176/Report:-Donaghy-says-refs-fixed-playoff-series


Anybody who watched the Lakers-Kings series in 2002 had to have doubts about the calls in the last few games......

I'm normally not a big fan of polls but check out the poll on that page.

Was the Lakers/Kings series fixed?

84% Yes
16% No



I don't care if the NBA's officials get exposed for this it has to get attention. Is it true? I certainly think so after I watched that series but now that someone has actually stepped up and said that he knows the series was fixed (although he is a disgraced official he has nothing to lose by saying this).

 

[Pats Fanatic]

David Stern just dismisses the guys charges and then discredits him instead trying the look into the problem. He was a good commissioner once but they need new blood bad in the NBA at the top.

 

[Michael]

Maybe one day the truth will come out about the Mannings too.

 

[patriotspride]

where there's smoke there is fire. nobody is going to tell me that donaghy was the only official that was on the take or doing something he shouldn't be doing.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

where there's smoke there is fire. nobody is going to tell me that donaghy was the only official that was on the take or doing something he shouldn't be doing.

What was Arlen Specter's comment about cheating? If he had any integrity, he'd be railing about Congressional hearings but I guess Comcast doesn't have a dog in this fight.............

 

[BradyManny]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3436401



The game in specific being Game 6 of the 2002 Western Confrence Finals between the Lakers and Kings.

If I recall, the ref'n in that game was just downright brutal in favor of LA. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but Donaghy at least picked a good game to point to if he's making this up or exaggerating what goes on.

 

[Kdo5]

Kings fans are still furious about Game Six after several years. They would have won Game Six and thus there never would have been a game seven to lose. And they would have crushed the Nets seeing as they were the best team in the league that year.

Could Lakers fans even argue about this one?

Kobe viciously elbows Bibby and knocks him over and he is down with a bloody nose. The refs than call the foul ON BIBBY not Kobe.

 

[BradyManny]

Kings fans are still furious about Game Six after several years. They would have won Game Six and thus there never would have been a game seven to lose. And they would have crushed the Nets seeing as they were the best team in the league that year.

Could Lakers fans even argue about this one?

Kobe viciously elbows Bibby and knocks him over and he is down with a bloody nose. The refs than call the foul ON BIBBY not Kobe.

Yeah, Kings got royally screwed. I mean, they pretty much did have an NBA title ripped away from them, whether it was incompetence or by design if you believe Donaghy, I'm sure that game still doesn't sit well with the folks from Sacramento.

 

[Kdo5]

I don't think theres much opposition to the belief that that game was stolen from the Kings other than the NBA and Lakers fans. If I were a Kings fan after that I don't know if I could have watched another NBA game.

And as much as I like to see the refs exposed for handing that series and the finals essentially to the Lakers (The Nets were a push over for the Kings AND Lakers) it pisses me off that it is overshadowing our finals right now. All these years the C's have spent trying to get back to the finals, they finally do and this has to come out precisely at the time.

And f*ck the stupid LA fans who claim Game 2 was fixed as well. The definition of fixed was Game Six of the WCF in 2002.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

And as much as I like to see the refs exposed for handing that series and the finals essentially to the Lakers (The Nets were a push over for the Kings AND Lakers) it pisses me off that it is overshadowing our finals right now..

The one redeeming point is that the NBA has to keep this series on the up and up..With heightened awareness any funny business and even Sen Spector will be calling for hearings......

 

[Kdo5]

The one redeeming point is that the NBA has to keep this series on the up and up..With heightened awareness any funny business and even Sen Spector will be calling for hearings......

Good point, I didn't think about it that way.