What We Don't Know: Tim Donaghy Tarnishes the NBA

Without question, basketball is the most difficult sport to referee. Because of that fact—on top of the sheer number of inept refs out there—no NBA game is ever short on missed, phantom, and inconsistent calls.

Until Friday, though, it was at least reasonable to assume that the mistakes were honest.

Now it's hard to know what to believe.

It would be completely unfair to say that the Spurs received any undue advantage in their 108-101 victory; for all we know, Donagy could have been betting on Phoenix.

But now the game is—has to be—surrounded by a cloud of doubt.

And in a way, that's worse than proof.

Was there a Warriors game during the regular season in which Donaghy helped Golden State win? Or a Clippers or Hornets game in which he made either team lose?

If so, Donaghy would have effectively determined the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs—and fundamentally altered the entire dynamic of the 2007 postseason.

What about seemingly irrelevant calls Donaghy may have made just to ensure a team covered, or failed to cover, a spread?

Maybe those few extra points tallied by a random player translated into more money in a new contract. Maybe those few extra points allowed by a random team were the straw that finally broke the backs of some disheartened fans. And maybe an artificially close score kept a young bench warmer from getting the chance to prove himself in garbage time.

Nothing is certain in all this—but again, the suspicion has been cast. And every aspect of the games Donaghy refereed must now be scrutinized.

Donaghy, of course, seems to be an isolated malefactor, and it would be unfair to indict every NBA referee on the basis of a single bad apple.

Still, the Donaghy case does tarnish the NBA's recent past, and proves how fragile the integrity of the game really is.

Just think: If the FBI hadn't been investigating the mafia, we probably wouldn't have ever known about Donaghy's transgressions in the first place.

And that may be the scariest truth of all.

 

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