[TSVIDeo]

This is going to be interesting.


http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2943095


The FBI is reportedly investigating an NBA referee who was allegedly betting on basketball games, including games he worked in the past two seasons.


The New York Post first reported Friday that the year-long investigation is focusing on allegations that the referee bet on games and was making calls that affected the point spread on games. The newspaper reported that according to sources, an arrest of the referee was imminent and that NBA Commissioner David Stern is aware of the investigation.

According to the Post, the referee's name was withheld.


The the head of the referees union said it was aware of the probe, Bloomberg News reported.



"These accusations, if true, are extremely serious and we have been in discussions with the NBA regarding this matter,'' Lamell McMorris, head of the NBA Referees Association, told Bloomberg News. "In light of the fact that this is an ongoing federal criminal investigation, we have nothing further to say at this time."


Bloomberg reported that an NBA spokesman and league executive Stu Jackson, who oversees referees, phone messages seeking comment Friday morning. The Post reported that the FBI declined comment on the investigation.

[RjkVwPcV]

[ansarigf]

Wow i'm suprised this isn't a bigger story on these boards and yes i know this will illicit the nba sucks or no one cares about the nba posts.

But damn. A ref fixing the point spreads on games. I can't wait to find out who it is. Joey crawford anyone?

[SannyGlow]

Wow i'm suprised this isn't a bigger story on these boards and yes i know this will illicit the nba sucks or no one cares about the nba posts.

But damn. A ref fixing the point spreads on games. I can't wait to find out who it is. Joey crawford anyone?

I'm thinking more on the lines of "Knick" Bavetta.

Always the one you don't suspect.

[beenBinybelia]

Wow. I was completely away from newspapers, television and the computer since Friday at noon. I can't believe this isn't a bigger story right now.

He also was a ref for the Suns/Spurs Game 3 in the playoffs this year? Ouch. One of the most disputed games of all-time and he played a part. The NBA just keeps having some of the worst problems a professional sport can have.

How long until someone comes out with a documentary detailing each and every one of the calls he has made over the past 10 years?

[SzefciuCba]

Report: Florida lawmen called to home of NBA ref being investigated for betting on games


NBA referee Tim Donaghy, who's being investigated by the FBI for betting on games he worked, had local lawmen at his Florida home Sunday because of threatening phone calls he's received, according to The New York Post.

Three squad cars from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office arrived at Donaghy's home in Bradenton, Fla.

"Our concern is for his safety and his family's safety," Sheriff's Lt. Robert McNealy told the newspaper for a story in Monday's editions. "We are definitely going to share any information we get with the FBI."

Authorities are examining whether the referee made calls to affect the point spread in games on which he or associates had wagered thousands of dollars over the past two seasons. Authorities say the referee had a gambling problem and was approached by low-level mob associates through an acquaintance.
The Daily News reported Sunday, citing unidentified law enforcement sources, that Donaghy will cooperate with authorities and possibly name other officials and players involved in the betting scandal.

On Monday, the newspaper reported that former neighbors of Donaghy's in Pennsylvania say they were approached more than a year ago by a private investigator they believed was hired by the NBA to check into Donaghy's gambling habits.


Kit Antsey, a real estate agent in West Chester, Pa., who helped Donaghy buy a home, told The Daily News a private investigator contacted him 18 months ago and asked him whether Donaghy bet on sports and at an Atlantic City casino.

However, The New York Times reported Monday, citing two unidentified people briefed on the investigation, that the NBA didn't know about Donaghy's betting or whether he affected the outcome of games until after the season.
The Times and The Daily News also reported NBA commissioner David Stern plans to speak publicly about Donaghy this week, maybe as soon as Monday.


http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns

[TEFSADDERFISA]

absolute nightmare for stern. his arrogant defiance of tough questioning won't get him through this one. you can bet he would much rather be facing a situation similar to roger goodell's with vick, than this.

many people have long felt the game has been fixed. but fixed by the league itself, not degenerate gambling referees and organized crime. game 3 of that phx/sa series was a terribly officiated game. i believe that was the game where d'antoni was so pissed at the end of the game he was asking the refs "why call that now? why start now?"

i think i heard this morning that doneghy is supposedly going to name other refs and possibly players that were also involved.

[NumsAmenniams]

Put this on top of the widely practicing of tanking games to get more balls in the lottery, and the NBA really looks like crap. Ryan Gomes said "The players weren’t thinking about the lottery and all that, but reality is reality. Now that our position in the lottery is set, hopefully we can go out and win some games."

[Misespimb]

i think i heard this morning that doneghy is supposedly going to name other refs and possibly players that were also involved.

This is gonna get super ugly very quick.

[Worseacar]

This is gonna get super ugly very quick.

he did the heat-knicks game in which the knicks shot 38 fts to mia's 9. the knicks were favored by 4 1/2 and won by 6.

[smirnoffdear]

absolute nightmare for stern. his arrogant defiance of tough questioning won't get him through this one. you can bet he would much rather be facing a situation similar to roger goodell's with vick, than this.

many people have long felt the game has been fixed. but fixed by the league itself, not degenerate gambling referees and organized crime. game 3 of that phx/sa series was a terribly officiated game. i believe that was the game where d'antoni was so pissed at the end of the game he was asking the refs "why call that now? why start now?"

i think i heard this morning that doneghy is supposedly going to name other refs and possibly players that were also involved.

Wow. Players as well? More refs? What an absolute nightmare for a sport that has a tough time getting people interested anyway.

However, maybe this is the rock bottom that the NBA needs to hit before turning the ship around. Too bad they didn't squash the gambling problem when Jordan was running the ship in the mid-90's.

Time to get Stern out of there. Between this scandal, the ratings disasters, the Jordan scandal of the 90's, the preferential treatment of certain players and the theory that the league fixes series/games, the last 10 years of his tenure has been nothing but distructive.

[EspnaConCam]

Donaghy may blow whistle

The man embroiled in the NBA point-shaving scandal is expected to surrender and cooperate with investigators.



The New York Daily News

Federal authorities believe the referee at the center of the betting and game-fixing probe rocking the NBA will cooperate with investigators and possibly name other officials or players involved in the scandal, law-enforcement sources told the New York Daily News.

Saddled with large gambling debts, Tim Donaghy, a graduate of Cardinal O'Hara High School and Villanova University, allegedly used mobbed-up bookies to place thousands of dollars in bets on games over the last two seasons, including contests he officiated, the sources said.

Donaghy, a 13-year NBA veteran, is expected to surrender in Brooklyn Federal Court as early as today to face federal gambling charges, authorities said.

Two of the bookies are expected to be arrested this week after Donaghy surrenders, the sources said.

Investigators do not yet know if the NBA gambling scandal extends beyond Donaghy.

"Who knows what he'll say if he comes in," a law-enforcement source said.

Details of the growing scandal emerged yesterday and on Saturday and painted a troubling picture of the 40-year-old Donaghy. The so-called family man, who hid his frightening temper and shady associates from public view, has been arrested twice for erratic and threatening behavior.

In June 2002, he was charged with disorderly conduct and harassment for nearly running a U.S. postal carrier off the road after the mailman accidentally knocked over a bin of recyclables in front of the referee's home in West Chester.

Yesterday, his former neighbors in West Chester said that the NBA sicced a private investigator on Donaghy more than a year ago to investigate his gambling but let him work games all season long anyway.

Officials had the investigator question neighbors and friends of Donaghy about what they knew about his gambling habits - especially his penchant for the Borgata in Atlantic City.

The private investigator "asked, 'Does he gamble?' " said Kit Anstey, 60, a real estate agent in West Chester. "I said, 'Yes.' "

Anstey told the investigator - who said she worked for a local firm hired by the NBA - that Donaghy bet on golf games, neighborhood poker games, and at an Atlantic City casino.

The prober never asked Anstey whether Donaghy bet on pro basketball games.

"It was about his gambling habits," said Anstey, who once helped the referee buy a $500,000 home.

"The NBA knew about his gambling," said former neighbor Pete Mansueto. "A lot of people were talking about it."

The NBA refused to comment on the probe and said commissioner David Stern would speak publicly this week.

As for the charge in June, 2002, "He was pretty nasty," mail carrier Charles Brogan, 48, said as he recalled trying to make a delivery at Donaghy's house in West Goshen, Chester County.

As Brogan attempted to drive his route, a screaming Donaghy chased him by hopping into his car and speeding after the postal truck, Brogan said.

"He kept cutting me off," said Brogan, adding that Donaghy narrowly avoided ramming his truck several times.

Donaghy later came to the post office to apologize at least three times, but Brogan said he refused to talk to him. The criminal case was dropped because Brogan failed to show up for a court hearing.

Donaghy's longtime caddie at the Radley Run Country Club in West Chester - which suspended the referee in 2004 for bad behavior - said the NBA referee ruffled feathers there as well.

"A lot of people felt he was rude," said Brent Devantier, 23.

Donaghy, who now lives in Bradenton, Fla., also was sued in 2005 by a neighbor in West Chester, where he moved from West Goshen, for instigating "a pattern of public harassment," according to court papers.

Sources told the Daily News that federal authorities first heard Donaghy's name on a wiretap during investigations into the Gambino crime family over the last year.

A Philadelphia mob figure is believed to have threatened to use his contacts in the Gambino family to hurt Donaghy if the referee - already known as a heavy gambler - did not share inside information and help fix games, sources said.
That gangster also claimed he would expose Donaghy's serious debts if he did not cooperate with the bookies.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/...w_whistle.html

[PIORARMADDERI]

Sixers-Raptors game in January likely to interest investigators



Daily News Wire Services

A 76ers game that former NBA referee Tim Donaghy worked in January fits the profile of what investigators might be looking for, sport-betting experts told the New York Times.

On Jan. 15, the Sixers were originally favored over visiting Toronto by one point. Heavy betting on the Raptors eventually made Toronto a one-point favorite, and the Raptors won, 104-86.

Donaghy, a 13-year NBA ref who resigned 2 weeks ago, is under federal investigation for possibly betting on games and associating with organized crime.

Donaghy refereed in 11 games after Jan. 1 this year in which the consensus Las Vegas line moved two points or more, according to a Las Vegas company whose owner has been contacted by people involved with the invesigation. The team on which bettors wagered heavily enough to move the line that far won seven of those 11 games.

In another development, federal authorities expect Donaghy to cooperate with investigators, the New York Daily News reported. The newspaper reported that Donaghy faced large gambling debts and placed bets with bookies, two of whom are expected to be arrested this week, sources said. *

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/...stigators.html

[Vikonbarius]

"The NBA knew about his gambling," said former neighbor Pete Mansueto. "A lot of people were talking about it."

As Brogan attempted to drive his route, a screaming Donaghy chased him by hopping into his car and speeding after the postal truck, Brogan said.

"He kept cutting me off," said Brogan, adding that Donaghy narrowly avoided ramming his truck several times.

Sources told the Daily News that federal authorities first heard Donaghy's name on a wiretap during investigations into the Gambino crime family over the last year.

A Philadelphia mob figure is believed to have threatened to use his contacts in the Gambino family to hurt Donaghy if the referee - already known as a heavy gambler - did not share inside information and help fix games, sources said.

That gangster also claimed he would expose Donaghy's serious debts if he did not cooperate with the bookies.

[avaiguite]

I just posted this story in the Pistons' forum about Donaghy;

http://sports-boards.net/forums/show...89#post1873489

[diegogo]

How in the world can Stern say that he was the only ref betting on games? I mean there are three refs a game amd when they have a dispute over a call, what do they do? They huddle up by themselves to 'correct' the call that was made.

And last I checked, he's not even a senior official, so I'm thinking that he was just made as the fall guy. If he's the only ref to get in trouble, the NBA is full of sh!t.