Expect an NBA preview from Silverberg and I soon...but excerpts from Tim Donaghy's book, Blowing the Whistle, are out:The betting on technical fouls and first foul of the game stuff is just...WOW. I was just saying to someone even if half of this stuff is true (shades of Jose Canseco's book about steroids for MLB)...the NBA is in a shit storm of trouble. I think pretty much every hardcore fan has questioned the outcome of the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Kings-Lakers and here is additional evidence to back it up. And while I always loved Bavetta, if this stuff is true he has to resign ASAP. Absolutely calls into question the last 20 years in the NBA. I am curious to how some of these NBA refs respond to these excerpts.
Expected David Stern comment : "We don't see how this changes anything. He is a convicted felon. Our referees are the best in professional sports."
Granted, let's reserve judgment to see how much of these stories are confirmed. Regardless, Stern has been shoving this under the rug ever since the story broke as if nothing is wrong here. The parallels between baseball and steroids are overwhelming because of his callous disregard for how this could be impacting outcomes of games. If he overlooks taking any action now, NBA fans should be outraged. If I were him, I'd be doing some inventory and cleaning house with my refs ASAP.
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