More Donaghy -- Alleging NBA Fixed Game 6 Series in 2002?

[VF21]

Where are you guys seeing PJ speak? I can't believe he has the nerve to say Game 5 was stolen from the Lakers. This has just strengthened my hatred for them

Jackson was just on ESPN. He was asked about the Donaghy allegations. He said he didn't watch TV and so didn't know about them. He then asked the reporters if Donaghy said anything about how poorly game 5 was officiated, including Bibby's three-point shot that should not have counted. And how many trips the Kings made to the line, etc.

He talked a bit more but I was screaming at the TV and didn't catch every word. At the end, however, he did say he didn't want to comment on something like that while it was still just allegations. Blah, blah, blah...

 

[piksi]

He didn't mention Samakee Walker shot in game 4 - did he ?

That series was over in 5. The last 2 games were forced upon us for money.

 

[nbrans]

He's right though, that was a bad out-of-bounds call before Bibby's shot in Game 5 (which was a 2, not a 3).

Didn't amount to a conspiracy, but no need to deny what happened.

 

[VF21]

ESPN talked to Scot Pollard. "I knew there was something wrong about that game from the beginning. I'm skeptical that the game was fixed, though. How could they keep that a secret?"

"Even if this is proven true, it's not gonna get me a flag or a ring. I hope it's not true because that would make it even worse."

 

[Kingzrool]

What did it say previous to that? I only saw the updated version.

This is a quote from it before it was edited.

The letter also details an incident in the 2002 playoffs in which Donaghy alleges that two referees, who were known as NBA "company men," wanted to extend a series to seven games. "Team 5" could have wrapped up the series in Game 6 but lost two players to ejection, lost that game and ultimately the series.

It is not clear which series this account refers to.

 

[xrzn]

This is really amazing. The NBA needs to do some serious damage control asap.

 

[tradepeja]

Scot's quote is interesting. Maybe I'm less even-keeled than he is, but knowing that it there was a conscious effort to make you lose would make me feel better. I guess I wouldn't know I'm not really in his position.


I do hope this thing blows up huge and something real comes out of it that really hurts the NBA, they to pay for that game and series whether it was fixed or not.

Like a true Kings fan, I have every belief that it was.

 

[Kingzrool]

This is really amazing. The NBA needs to do some serious damage control asap.

Does a bear sh*t in the woods? Don't worry, the spin will be enormous. After all Donaghy is a "disgruntled" employee. Expect that to fly like a kite.

 

[diggining]

I don't really see why making such allegations will help Donaghy get a lighter sentence if Donaghy is lying. It would make a lot more sense for the NBA to plead "Tim Donaghy is a convicted felon! How can anyone trust him!?" and no sense for anyone to actually negotiate with his lawyer. Now if he does have evidence to support his allegations, then we're in a different situation. Doesn't mean he is telling the truth, of course. I find it plausible that his allegations might just be vindicative lies. I just don't buy the claim that he has no evidence to back up his claims, and yet his claims are a ploy to improve his bargaining position. And of course, it doesn't make the officiating in game 6 any less atrocious...

 

[C Diddy]

Man oh man.

The disgraced official comes out publicly and claims what every NBA fan outside of SoCal believed for 6 years. But is it really true? Is Donaghy trying to pull people down with him or is he spilling his guts because he has nothing left to lose? To steal a line from Proph, "I want to believe."

Gosh, I wish it would of been an official in good standing or recently retired that said this.

Anyone know where I can find a video of this game, or the series as a whole? I'd like to go back and watch games 5, 6, and 7 again with heavier scrutiny.

 

[bench_blob]

MOTHER F****N REFS AND MOTHER F***IN DAVID STERN SCREWED US OUT OF OUR RIGHTFUL 2002 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!

DAVID M***THER F****IN STERN OWES THE KINGS AN EXTRA 2008 LOTTERY PICK FOR BLATANT INJUSTICE AND DOWNRIGHT THIEVERY OF OUR JUST DESERTS

 

[tradepeja]

LOTTERY PICK FOR BLATANT INJUSTICE AND DOWNRIGHT THIEVERY OF OUR JUST DESERTS

Man! This conspiracy does run thick! By being part of the few higher ups not wanting the Kings to not move to Las Vegas, he really is intent on not giving us our just amount of deserts.

 

[supamari0]

Man oh man.

The disgraced official comes out publicly and claims what every NBA fan outside of SoCal believed for 6 years. But is it really true? Is Donaghy trying to pull people down with him or is he spilling his guts because he has nothing left to lose? To steal a line from Proph, "I want to believe."

Gosh, I wish it would of been an official in good standing or recently retired that said this.

Anyone know where I can find a video of this game, or the series as a whole? I'd like to go back and watch games 5, 6, and 7 again with heavier scrutiny.

If it gives him any credibility, Donaghy made two allegations. He made the one about the Kings and one about the Rockets in 05. The Rockets one has extra credence because Van Gundy accused the NBA of the same thing in 05, claiming an unnamed NBA referee told him and then refused to recant his allegation later.

Now he could've just cherrypicked two incidents that have always been questionable but honestly who knows. We all lambasted Jose Canseco when he talked about roids and history proved him to be right.

 

[NewMonkey]

There has never been any doubt in my mind that Game 6 was fixed. I've said it on this very site many, many times. That being said, I don't know how Dongahy would know about it and I'm pretty sure he can't provide any proof.

 

[uolj]

ESPN talked to Scot Pollard. "I knew there was something wrong about that game from the beginning. I'm skeptical that the game was fixed, though. How could they keep that a secret?"

"Even if this is proven true, it's not gonna get me a flag or a ring. I hope it's not true because that would make it even worse."

This is kind of how I feel.

There are a couple plausible situations I see, as well as all the gray in between them:

1. The two referees were "company men" and tended to call the game more for the Lakers because they thought it was better for the league and because it was in L.A, and because Kings got the benefit of some calls in Game 5. This is not a conspiracy but does fit with what it sounds like Donaghy is saying. You can call it a "fix" but it really would just be an egregious version of what happened all the time in the playoffs.
2. NBA officials specifically told the "company men" that it would be in the best interest of the league that there be a game 7 and that they should lean the borderline calls towards the Lakers. This is much more serious and a bigger "wow" but still provides the league some sort of protection since they aren't entirely forcing the outcome.

I've always believed the first thing happened, and while Donaghy's allegation could be consistent with that I'm more worried now that it is closer to the second.

 

[beb0p]

it must be noted, and underlined, that Donaghy is coming forward with all this stuff in an effort to get his sentence reduced. Therefore he has every motivation to lie even if he knew nothing in particular.

A flip side to this: when you're guilty as hell, the last thing you want to do is caught lying to get sympathy. And if you are going to lie, go for broke and come up with something that can really really help your case. I mean really help like: Other refs hook up with bookies and bet on games too! But saying two refs were biased in calling a playoff game, without offering their motivation, is pretty weak when it comes to helping Donaghy.

Not saying he was or was not lying. But if it was me, and if I know I'm lying, I'd go all out and say; yeah the "company men" fixed that playoff game because they took bribes and they placed bet on that game!!

As far as I'm concerned, Donaghy didn't say anything that's news to me. Except this comes from an insider, or former insider.

 

[vj9999]

Wounds have healed, but scars are still there.

 

[uolj]

I don't think he's lying, but I do think he could be playing it up and making what happened sound worse than what it was. I think the media (maybe just ESPN) right now is doing just that by the sensationalist way they report things. Nowhere in the story is anything that says the NBA told the refs to give the game to the Lakers, but that's what's being reported.

 

[NBAGURU]

How about the NBA paying for the new Sacramento Kings "arena"?

 

[Variant]

I honestly do NOT want to believe this. If it's true, then you know the NBA has manipulated many other games. At that point it becomes pretty pointless to be an NBA fan.

Obviously you know Donahy (however you spell it) is a questionable source as he is in some serious crapola at the moment, but I don't think it would help his case to make wildly unprovable accusations such as this one.... he's looking for leniency, not the other way around...

Or maybe he wants to write a book?

Either way, as much as I "knew" it at the time, I do not want this to be true.

 

[Bricklayer]

Not saying he was or was not lying. But if it was me, and if I know I'm lying, I'd go all out and say; yeah the "company men" fixed that playoff game because they took bribes and they placed bet on that game!!

Then you probably are just not a very good liar. (but hey, a good thing right?)

Trust me when I say this with a certain amount of professional aplomb: the key to a good lie is never leaving anything out there you can get tripped up on. Or at least one of the keys (another is build the lie out of stuff you already know/have experienced so you can slip in realism + details). If Donaghy was lying, the LAST thing he would want to do is to get too specific. Because at some point that can be disproven. But now, keep it vague, play upon the prejudices that game already has attached to it, adn you can say very little and jsut let people run wild wiht by themselves. Everybody is already primed to believe. And hopefully for you they do. But if they do not and call you onit, you can just go back and point to your vague statements and say "see? I didn't say that/lie to you."

As an aside, you can see the difference between what he said about Game 6, and what he said about the Houston/Dallas series the Rockets fan keeps mentioning. In the Houston/Dallas series, Donaghy not only makes specific allegations about where the directions came from, and why, but he also gives a plausible reason why/how he would know this: he was the alternate referee for the game and so received the insturctions himself. Now there is some question whether there is anything really untoward about what the NBA did there -- contacted the refs to tell them to watch out for a call they thought they were missing. But the details provided make that one seem likely to have occurred.

The Game 6 allegation on the other hand doesn't state much of anything that everybody doesn;t already know other than that tow fo the officals wer allegedly "company men" (and actually that has been part of the popular conception fo the game too). Doesn;t mention details about how/why the directin came down, or from whom. Does not mention how Donaghy would have found out. And so...you just don't know unless he has got something concrete.

 

[uolj]

But this situation is very similar to Clemens' trainer. Why lie when the point is that if you do lie you'll be screwed? You can be vague in making allegations to the press, but there is little to gain by being vague to the feds when all they have to do is grill you harder and uncover the inconsistencies.

I don't think he lied at all. I do think that what's being reported is an exaggeration of what he's claiming and that when the NBA says that they did nothing illegal they are not lying either.

That doesn't mean they did nothing wrong. I do think that Donaghy is uncovering a problem the NBA has had for a long time.

P.S. Interesting legal Q&A: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?id=3436503

 

[One and Done]

Game 6 is an easy target for anybody wanting to point out the theory of "favoritism" in officiating...which is what both I and many Kings fans have been accusing the said game of being.

Donaghy bringing this up, man...this just opens old wounds!

I would not be surprised to find it to be true...god the officiating was abnormally awful that night...remember Kobe throwing a punch and then HIM taking the free throw?!?

But also, keep in mind this game is an easy target for anybody, especially someone in particular dire straits like Donaghy.

Either way, no matter what happens, my stance will never change in believing that Game 6's refs won the game for the Lakers and the 2002 Kings WERE the best team in the NBA that year, and had it not been for Game 6's refs (and the Game 7 chokejob, let's be honest) the Kings would have gone on to the finals and won. And I would pay my lifelong bet of streaking if the Kings went to the finals (hold me to it).

 

[Bricklayer]

But this situation is very similar to Clemens' trainer. Why lie when the point is that if you do lie you'll be screwed? You can be vague in making allegations to the press, but there is little to gain by being vague to the feds when all they have to do is grill you harder and uncover the inconsistencies.

I don't think he lied at all. I do think that what's being reported is an exaggeration of what he's claiming and that when the NBA says that they did nothing illegal they are not lying either.

That doesn't mean they did nothing wrong. I do think that Donaghy is uncovering a problem the NBA has had for a long time.

P.S. Interesting legal Q&A: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?id=3436503

I've been curious about the why of this accusation myself -- certainly does not help him in its current form wihtout any specific support. My best guess, if it were not true, would be that it is just a supplement. That basically he only knows of a few instances of possibly shady behavior, butin an effort to make himself seem like a bigger fish for the feds, he si offereing up padding of the sort that everybody already suspects. SDo instead of I know of this little incident her, oh and this one here, he makes his help seem much grander and hints at more.

You are correct though that the feds would hone in on that in an instant, and I woulkd imagine if he is lying he would just vague it up and say I've cooperated -- I told you everything I know.

Of course the alternate is that its just one more piece of petty slime hurled back at the league which has turned its back at him. There will be a tell all/slime all book one day, you can bet on it.

 

[gunks]

No draft picks or any other "help" ould ever fix this.

A great team with great guys was robbed of something that was theirs and that can not be fixed EVER.

You're right.

This kinda ruined the game tonight for me. I changed it to the Braves/Cubs game...And I hate baseball.


Stern needs to get canned. I hope this coming out sparks major changes.

 

[AleksandarN]

I say if this is true. We should win the lottery next year to make up for it.

 

[Sptsjunkie]

This is kind of how I feel.


There are a couple plausible situations I see, as well as all the gray in between them:

1. The two referees were "company men" and tended to call the game more for the Lakers because they thought it was better for the league and because it was in L.A, and because Kings got the benefit of some calls in Game 5. This is not a conspiracy but does fit with what it sounds like Donaghy is saying. You can call it a "fix" but it really would just be an egregious version of what happened all the time in the playoffs.
2. NBA officials specifically told the "company men" that it would be in the best interest of the league that there be a game 7 and that they should lean the borderline calls towards the Lakers. This is much more serious and a bigger "wow" but still provides the league some sort of protection since they aren't entirely forcing the outcome.

I've always believed the first thing happened, and while Donaghy's allegation could be consistent with that I'm more worried now that it is closer to the second.

I wrote a big paper on this for a class after the series (I was a College Junior in 2002). My assertation has always been that it is more of a cladenstine agreement than anything blatantly stated. Officials get paid a ton of money to ref these playoff games. It always struck me as suspicious that the same refs who kept "choking" and "accidentlly botching calls" in critical playoff games kept getting assigned to those critical games. I think Stern and the league would be taking way to big of a risk to tell the officials (much less put anything in writing) that they should let one team win. However, continuing to pay the officials making the biggest "mistakes" in favor of the big market teams or the team who needs to win to extend the series hundreds of thousands of dollars is a pretty good way of keeping company men in place with complete deniability. The biggest way to foster a behavior is to reward it and Stern has done that by bankrolling those who officiated games the way he wanted them to be done.

 

[Calvito6]

What's the NBA's revenue? $3 billion? Sounds like a good number to sue for. Put all of these guys (Stern, Delany, Crawford, Donaghy, etc.) on the stand and see how they do.

 

[fansinceday1]

This hurts man. I mean really hurts. I still havent got over this and now the wound is opened up once again. That being said I am not suprised. Not one bit. I also do not need any sort of investigation to tell me that this game was fixed. Yes, I said fixed. I know what I saw with my own eyes. Every forum I went to from every team said the same thing, THE KINGS WERE JOBBED!

 

[uolj]

I wrote a big paper on this for a class after the series (I was a College Junior in 2002). My assertation has always been that it is more of a cladenstine agreement than anything blatantly stated. Officials get paid a ton of money to ref these playoff games. It always struck me as suspicious that the same refs who kept "choking" and "accidentlly botching calls" in critical playoff games kept getting assigned to those critical games. I think Stern and the league would be taking way to big of a risk to tell the officials (much less put anything in writing) that they should let one team win. However, continuing to pay the officials making the biggest "mistakes" in favor of the big market teams or the team who needs to win to extend the series hundreds of thousands of dollars is a pretty good way of keeping company men in place with complete deniability. The biggest way to foster a behavior is to reward it and Stern has done that by bankrolling those who officiated games the way he wanted them to be done.

Agreed.

I've actually commented on it here in the past on numerous occasions, but the league actually encouraged the subjective behavior that leads to lopsided officiating. It has toned down in recent years but five or six years ago you almost knew how the officiating would slant and columns written about the refs included instructions on how and when to use subjectivity in changing how the game is called. That kind of atmosphere along with the stuff you mention is how this kind of thing can happen without an overt conspiracy.

By the way, here's the PDF of Donaghy's allegations: http://assets.espn.go.com/media/pdf/080610/donaghy03.pdf

I haven't read it yet but from the quotes I've seen he never alleges that the NBA instructed the refs to behave that way.