OK, this is ridiculous and you're utterly wrong in making such a statement. Listen good because I'm going to set you straight.
Nies is terrible for the Lakers. He doesn't read Stern's memos. I'd rather Garretson, Jr., who's been good to us. I remember when he whacked Sheed from a playoff game just for staring at him. He actually said, "Whack! Get out!" (mob terminology, hinting at his mob ties). I've got it on good source that Ronnie still works closely with a displaced agent who helped fix most our games for years (codename: "T.D.").
* Garretson, Jr. was the one Van Exel shoved in 1996. He evidently wasn't counteracting the other 2 refs and not only screwed up the spread, but caused LA to lose that night. Van Exel was reminding him who was paying his bonuses. Ronnie's performance that night also angered certain elements in the Gambino crew and "T.D." was forced to vouch for him in a sit down and Ronnie had to pay points to an underboss to avoid being whacked.
PS: Bavetta (Italian) actually could've beaten Barkley in the race, but he was ordered to "take a dive" by the same Gambino underboss I mentioned above. Bavetta literally took a dive, did he not?