No Go: Tim Donaghy's Tell-All Book Is Pulled From Publication

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Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy's tell-all book Blowing the Whistle: The Culture of Fraud in the NBA has been pulled by its publisher Triumph, a division of Random House. 

Triumph has not stated why this has happened.

Rumors circulating at the moment, courtesy of the website Deadspin, claim Random House pulled the plug because the NBA threatened to sue over the book's contents in which Donaghy details how referees manipulated NBA games, sometimes at the league's request. 

Representatives of the NBA, however, claim no one within the league has read the book and that they are not responsible for the book's demise.

Clearly, the book will not be released within the next few weeks as scheduled. The amazon.com web page for the book has been removed. Donaghy was lined up to appear on "60 Minutes" to promote the book. That interview was cancelled as well.

As of right now, the book has no home. Deadspin does have excerpts from the book, however. The details, for anyone following this story, are far from surprising.

Perhaps the biggest revelation is just how much of a "company man" long standing referee Dick Bavetta was for the league. 

According to Donaghy, Bavetta didn't even need direction from the league's home office to know which team should be assisted in winning certain key games. 

Bavetta was aware which teams were the league's bread and butter, and knew that the further those teams went into the playoffs, the more money the league made.

Donaghy also detailed in-fighting between referees and players, the love some officials openly showed for certain star players, and even how referees would gamble among themselves to see which of the crew could last the longest without calling a foul during a game.

With the book, Donaghy is sticking to his initial argument that the NBA is rigged from front to back. This is exactly what he told the FBI when he was cooperating with them, and this same information is what helped reduce his prison sentence.

While it makes sense that Triumph or its parent company Random House would worry about the book being potentially libelous, if Donaghy's story was good enough for federal agents, what's really stopping it from publication?

Has the NBA flexed its legal muscles to stop the book's publication as it was to coincide with the start of their season? 

Will it matter as bits of the book have already leaked? Will this affect, either negatively or positively, the sale and ultimate popularity the book may have when it is finally released to the general public?

Most importantly, is Donaghy telling the complete truth?  If he is, what does that mean for the NBA and its fans?  Is the NBA just the WWE with a pair of hoops and a ball instead of a ring?

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