Will Tim Donaghy's Book Bring Down the NBA?

Smart gamblers stay away from basketball because they know the games are the most easily fixed. 

There are only ten players on the court, so it's easier for one or two guys to change the outcome of a game. Since the games move at such a quick pace with fewer breaks in the action than football or baseball, the refs can have an enormous influence on outcomes by calling (or not calling) fouls.

Disgraced NBA ref Tim Donaghy, convicted of giving insider tips on NBA games to professional gamblers, used his fifteen-month prison stay to pen Blowing the Whistle: The Culture of Fraud in the NBA, an exposé of not-so-honorable tactics used by both refs and the NBA league office.

Once Random House announced a release date for Donaghy's book, the NBA's lawyers went into overdrive and intimidated the publisher into canceling the book.

Deadspin obtained an advance copy of Blowing the Whistle and has published excerpts that include allegations about referee gambling, personal prejudices of individual officials in favor or or against certain players or teams and orders from the league office that certain players shouldn't be touched.

"If Kobe Bryant had two fouls in the first or second quarter and went to the bench, one referee would tell the other two, "Kobe's got two fouls. Let's make sure that if we call a foul on him, it's an obvious foul, because otherwise he's gonna go back to the bench. If he is involved in a play where a foul is called, give the foul to another player."

ESPN reports that the NBA has now responded to the Deadspin post, promising to look into the allegations in a book the league didn't read before they shut it down.

Comments

[#1 Posted by: Deltaflot]

It's not surprising from what I have seen, at least during the playoffs, where the storied teams seem to have an easier time of things, than the upstart teams. Not sure how fixing really changes things in the end, but it's kinda like the Butterfly Effect, you never know how one called or not called foul change not only a game, but even a whole playoff series

[#2 Posted by: Dykerarms]

Tim should just publish this in another country if he wants to get his message out.

[#3 Posted by: Alan]

Too much money begets too many temptations and thugball -- er, basketball is the easiest of the major sports to stack the books in.

[#4 Posted by: Dee Smith]

I've always thought there was game fixing as far back as the 1970's, so it's not a surprise. In this world of capitalism and greed, it is more prevalent today more than ever.