Crisis of character
Gambling scandal cuts to heart of league's integrity
Posted: Friday July 20, 2007 7:04PM; Updated: Friday July 20, 2007 9:39PM
Tim Donaghy was a senior referee working the infamous Palace brawl in November '04.
Note: Additional reporting by Ian Thomsen, Steve Aschburner and Chris Mannix
LAS VEGAS -- Kobe Bryant has lost 15 pounds and is moving like a cobra. LeBron James is excited to be here. Everyone is waving the red, white and blue out here in good ol' Sin City on Friday afternoon, as 17 NBA players got together for a summer practice session prior to the Olympic qualifying tournament next month.
And the NBA is facing possibly its worst crisis in history.
"I never would have believed that this would happen," says Mark Madsen, the player representative of the Minnesota Timberwolves. "It's tragic. I never thought I'd be hearing this in 100 years, about any official in any sport."
But it has happened. Sometime next week, referee Tim Donaghy, lowly regarded as a whistle-blower in some circles but qualified enough (in the NBA's view) to work postseason games, will reportedly surrender to the FBI to face charges that he conspired to make calls that would affect the point spread of games. Donaghy, 40, a 13-year veteran who officiated five playoff games in 2007, allegedly had a gambling problem that landed him in financial difficulty, according to the New York Post, which broke the Donaghy story on its front pages on Friday. Said one league source with ties to Philadelphia (Donaghy is one of four NBA refs who graduated from Philadelphia's Cardinal O'Hara High School and he still lives in the Quaker City suburbs): "When I heard that a referee was in trouble with gambling, I knew right away it was Donaghy."
Donaghy, who was on duty the night of the infamous Nov. 19, 2004 brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills, has made no comment. NBA officials have been similarly close-mouthed, saying that the FBI has asked them not to speak. Calls to half a dozen referees went unreturned.
But when Commissioner David Stern does talk, he will have to answer this: If others knew that Donaghy was a gambler, why didn't the NBA?
In a bit of irony that is no doubt souring Stern's innards, the story broke as the NBA was working out its star-spangled troops in Las Vegas, which is also the site of the Olympic qualifier. Years ago, Stern looked upon Vegas as a modern-day Gomorrah -- best left ignored because of its ties to gambling. That has changed. Though Stern still expresses reservations about a Vegas-based NBA franchise, the 2007 All-Star Game was staged here, and now that is followed by the Olympic event, which USA Basketball, headed by former Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo, lobbied for. One of the league's most prominent ownership teams, the Sacramento Kings' Maloof brothers, Gavin and Joseph, own a Vegas hotel (the Palms) where players and coaches stayed during All-Star Weekend.
Beyond the issue of the ref's alleged gambling, and whether or not the NBA knew about it, the baby-faced Donaghy is no stranger to trouble. In January, 2005, his next-door neighbors in Chester County sued him for harassment and invasion of privacy for a pattern of discord that had reportedly gone on for several years. Peter and Lisa Mansueto claimed that Donaghy vandalized their property and stalked them, even to the point of following Mrs. Mansueto around Radley Run Country Club, where Donaghy and the Mansuetos were members. After an internal investigation, Donaghy was suspended from Radley Run for the summer and early fall of 2004. The suit also alleged that Donaghy set fire to the Mansuetos' tractor and crashed their golf cart into a ravine.
Efforts to reach the Mansuetos to confirmt the disposition of the lawsuit were unsuccessful as of 6 p.m. on Friday. Donaghy has since sold his house and moved to Bradenton, Fla.
Donaghy is the least-regarded of the Cardinal O'Hara foursome, which also includes Joey Crawford, Mike Callahan and Ed Malloy. One NBA coach called him "absolutely the worst referee in the league" but others were kinder. "I'd put him about in the middle," said another coach, requesting anonymity. "Then again, it's a large and undistinguished middle."
Donaghy's competence, or lack thereof, doesn't prove or disprove that he was making crooked calls. But now, as Madsen says, "Every player is going to try to remember their games that he worked. If there were any close games or late calls, players are definitely going to think about that. This is bad."
Though it was obscured by the subsequent riot in the stands between members of the Indiana Pacers and Pistons fans, Donaghy's work on Nov. 19 at the Palace would've earned him no commendation from the league office. He and Ronnie Garretson, the two senior officials, did little to defuse the situation after Detroit's Ben Wallace threw a punch at Indiana's Ron Artest. Artest then went and sprawled on the scorer's table, after which a cup of beer was tossed at him after which all hell broke loose.
Donaghy was also on the crew that worked a game in Sacramento on the April 2004 night that Shaquille O'Neal (then of the Los Angeles Lakers) claimed the outcome was "predetermined" after a 102-85 skunking by the Kings. Then again, Vlade Divac, an inventive flopper then playing for the Kings, always brought out Shaq's angry side.
In January 2003, Donaghy and Rasheed Wallace, then with the Portland Trail Blazers, got into a postgame shouting match on the loading dock of the Rose Garden in Portland. Wallace had been upset with some of Donaghy's calls during the game. Again, that proves nothing since at one time or another 'Sheed, now a Detroit Piston, is upset with everyone's calls. But officials are not supposed to get into offcourt shouting matches with players.
Donaghy, who is about 5-foot-7, looks like a junior-high kid staring up at the players he officiates. He does not have the bulldog demeanor of a Crawford (no one does), but a former friend of his said he was highly aggressive. "Tim was an unbelievable athlete, a hard-driving kid, very determined," said Scott Newman, the editorial sales director for Bloomberg North America, who grew up playing basketball in Philly with Donaghy. "He always wanted to be the best. He was a little guy who got the most out of what he had. He was very passionate about what he did."
That's one way to put it. The league source close to Philly put it this way: "He's the kind of guy who is always in fights. When he was a kid, you'd see him throwing rocks at cars. He's just an asshole. No one likes the guy. He's always in fights on the golf course, that kind of thing. He's a very antagonistic guy. When you have too many enemies, one of them comes back to bite you.''
Obviously, this scandal isn't just about something coming back at Donaghy. It cuts to the heart of a league that struggles with public perception even in the best of times.
"Even though it might be only one guy, it doesn't matter," said an NBA coach. "If you're a fan, you're going to walk out after a game wondering."
Questions about point spreads are prevalent among casual fans even though, within the NBA, the subject doesn't come up all that much. I can attest to that --I just don't hear much conversation about it. (Then again, I'm not a gambling man.) "Things happen too fast in this league to worry about whether you're up two points or 10 points," said one NBA coach. "I don't know how one referee blowing one whistle could have that big of an impact."
But don't think gamblers aren't aware of who's wearing the striped shirt. A Web site known as COVERS.com tabulates how individual refs perform vis-à-vis the over-under in every game. In case you're interested -- and now you are -- Tim Donaghy finished third for the 2006-07 season.
