Did an NBA Referee Fix Games?
Plus: The Suns in HD.
-Shocking story in the NY Post this morning: The FBI is investigating an NBA ref who allegedly fixed games and had ties to the mob.
The investigation, which began more than a year ago, is zeroing in on blockbuster allegations that the referee was making calls that affected the point spread to guarantee that he - and the hoods who had their hooks in him - cashed in on large bets.
Federal agents are set to arrest the referee and a cadre of mobsters and their associates who lined their pockets, sources said.
The sources indicated the referee apparently had a gambling problem, slipped into debt and fell prey to mob thugs.
The official, whose name was withheld, allegedly wagered on games during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 NBA seasons.
(Something tells me David Stern isn’t enjoying his breakfast this morning.)
-Mike Wilbon on the infinitesimal possibility that Sir Charles leaves TNT for ESPN.
I can’t get fined for tampering, so yeah, I’d love to see Chuck with us. But if I was Turner, would I let Charles leave? Hell, no. No. No. That would be insane.
(Yes, quite insane.)
-I don’t know why, but I get the feeling that Frank Isola isn’t a big fan of Steve Francis.
-Starting next season, the Suns will be the first NBA team to broadcast all of their games in HD.
67 Responses to “Did an NBA Referee Fix Games?”
Jul.20 at 9:31 am
Gerard Himself says:
Mr. Stern won’t be happy to hear about the refs talking with the Soprano’s.
Jul.20 at 9:31 am
Cheryl says:
Wow. If this is true… I did hear that Crawford is coming back, so it must not be him. Though I can totally see him in this mess. I can hear it now: “see we told you the refs gave Miami the title!”
Jul.20 at 9:35 am
thesubwayconnection says:
Interesting. I could see Crawford, too. But there’s a number of other refs that I dislike the way they call games, too. I hope they release names later.
Jul.20 at 9:37 am
Chris Childs says:
If the referee is Joey Crawford, the Robot better go into hiding…
Jul.20 at 9:38 am
white hot eboy says:
Cheryl, I told you they gave us the title.
Jul.20 at 9:41 am
Cheryl says:
:-)
Jul.20 at 9:43 am
Russ Bengtson says:
STOP SNITCHIN’
Jul.20 at 9:46 am
white hot eboy says:
Damn, I’m seeing Jack Nies as the culprit. You can only live of that Club MTV/Real World money his son was making for so long.
Jul.20 at 9:51 am
Keith says:
Fellas, we’re ignoring the major thing noted in this article… Barkley might be traded. That would be devestating news. No more Jet and Chuck. Or Bert and Ernie..whichever.
Jul.20 at 9:53 am
Keith says:
Sorry, fellas and ladies. Sorry Cheryl.
Jul.20 at 10:27 am
Gerard Himself says:
Hell no Keith. Wilbon is just thinking out loud. Barkley shouldn’t go anywhere and stay with TNT. And write some more books (love them). And buy a doughnut or 2.
Jul.20 at 10:36 am
Khalid Salaam says:
All jokes aside, if this ref situation turns into a big deal this has the potential the hurt the League in ways much worse than the artest brawl. Hopefully its a big name ref and/or it doesn’t involve playoff games where shaky calls dictated the outcome. Either way, just the fact that this is being mentioned only leads ammo to those who think the NBA sucks and is fixed.
Jul.20 at 10:38 am
Khalid Salaam says:
I meant not a big name ref. sorry. I suppose it really doesn’t matter if its a less reconizable ref or not. either way this is bad
Jul.20 at 10:44 am
mutoni says:
i agree. this is much worse for the lig than the palace brawl, and stern is going to kill someone in cold blood.
Jul.20 at 10:45 am
Steve O says:
Do you think that ref was in the diner when Sopranos faded to black??
Jul.20 at 10:52 am
Gerard Himself says:
Well, I read the Wilbon interview, and you can say what you want about this guy but he makes some good points. About the League getting a lot of hate, and often unrightfully so. As Khalid said, this obviously doesn’t help and the “haters” will all be lined up to write a piece about this.
Jul.20 at 10:57 am
Paul says:
I bet the ref was involved in the Suns - spurs debacle.
Jul.20 at 10:58 am
Max Airington says:
I’m really hoping it was Hue Hollins. And who would be a good replacement if Chuck did bounce? The person I could think of that even approaches that level of unintentional/intentional comedy is Shaq.
Jul.20 at 11:00 am
Gerard Himself says:
I’m not even speculating who could replace the Chuckster. He’s not gonna bounce.
Well, he bounced across the finish line racing Bavetta in February.
Jul.20 at 11:01 am
white hot eboy says:
Max, based on the last couple of weeks, Starbury could be a great replacement for Chuck. Or at least a correspondent from Italy.
Jul.20 at 11:01 am
Ryan Jones says:
I think we can safely assume it was NOT Bob Delaney.
Jul.20 at 11:04 am
Max Airington says:
I forgot about Steph. How could I forget about Steph?! Just as funny and incoherent as Chuck and probably much cheaper. Plus he and Kenny have the NYC bond. I like it. He’s no Chuckster, but I like it….
Jul.20 at 11:05 am
Russ Bengtson says:
Let’s not kid—Steph is WAY more incoherent than Chuck.
Jul.20 at 11:07 am
Steve O says:
If Chuck leaves I say they bring in JR Rider or maybe Kemp
Jul.20 at 11:08 am
baker's dozen (12-13) says:
I knew there was a reason that the Nuggets gave up so many leads late in games!
Jul.20 at 11:09 am
SA says:
I’ll play the stereotypes and say it was Bennett Salvatore, he looks like an old school organized crime guy.
Jul.20 at 11:24 am
Ryan Jones says:
You mean “Bennie Two T’s” Salvatore?
Jul.20 at 11:27 am
Andrew McNeill says:
This is huge for the league. David Stern is a master with the media, but there’s no way he can downplay the importance of this.
Jul.20 at 11:28 am
Joel O's says:
Interesting question: WHICH games? I have a feeling they aren’t a bunch of meaningless regular season games. Could this explain a bunch of really lopsidedly officiated playoff - Finals (??) - games over the last few years?
Jul.20 at 11:31 am
Max Airington says:
Nice question Joel. I bet Stern NEVER EVER EVER reveals which games were fixed. It would be an absolute disaster.
Jul.20 at 11:31 am
white hot eboy says:
Are there any refs that where a gaudy gold pinky ring? That’s a dead giveaway.
Jul.20 at 11:31 am
mutoni says:
i just got an email saying that the ref will come forward next week. yikes.
Jul.20 at 11:32 am
white hot eboy says:
Or wear.
Jul.20 at 11:33 am
white hot eboy says:
Mutoni, that’s for real? No sh*t.
Jul.20 at 11:34 am
Gerard Himself says:
Marcel, come on now, are you serious?
Jul.20 at 11:38 am
Silky Slim says:
This story only adds fuel to the rumors about referees tanking games. Those rumors have been floating around for years. I guess there’s some truth to those rumors.
Jul.20 at 11:38 am
Ryan Jones says:
Max, I disagree: I think they’ll be COMPLETELY forthcoming about all of this — as bad as this will be, the League would make it much, much worse for itself if it tried to cover up a single shred of info or evidence. If this is really a case of one crooked ref who’s been bought off, it’s absolutely in the League’s best interest to get everything out in the open — every game he worked, every allegation — so they can put it on him and move on. Also, I just like to disagree with you. As you know.
Jul.20 at 11:44 am
Gerard Himself says:
Ryan, if we’re talking about playoff or Finals games here, I can’t imagine the League would tell the world about it.
That would put a huge asteriks (sp?) next to the team that won that years Finals
Jul.20 at 11:47 am
whooo! says:
is it wrong that i hope it’s that dirty mofo steve javie?
Jul.20 at 11:49 am
whooo! says:
oh, and henry abbott pointed out a very good point on his blog, saying it doesn’t even need to involve one team winning unfairly. it’s just gotta cover the spread. it could easily be a matter of adding/reducing pts in an already decided game, just as much as we’re speculating blatant rigging to make one team win.
Jul.20 at 11:51 am
Ryan Jones says:
GH: First off, I’d imagine the feds will have those specifics, and that they’d come out in a trial anyway. Second, if the League DOESN’T acknowledge which games this guy may have thrown, wouldn’t everyone logically assume that every single game he ever called was fixed? There is NO good reason for the League to be anything other than completely forthcoming on this, and I’d bet money (with a low-level mafia bookie, in fact) that they will.
Jul.20 at 11:52 am
Ryan Jones says:
Please understand, I’m not saying Stern & Co. are such good guys that they want to share all they know — I’m saying it’s in the best interests of their business not to cover things up.
Jul.20 at 11:54 am
Max Airington says:
Ryan, I guess I dont know. But given Stern’s reputation for being such a control freak I dont see how he could risk the legitimacy of the past few NBA champs. Although, now that I read Lang’s Links, it seems as though the ref in question was relatively inconsequential, so maybe he didn’t ref many, or any, significant playoff games. That would really be the best case scenario for the lig at this point….Oh and the sky is green today. Cause I live to disagree with you….
Jul.20 at 11:56 am
Jess says:
I hope they come out with the name if the ref because this is ridiculous. These playoffs were terrible oon behalf of the refs - I couldnt beleive it. So I tihnk that theSpurs can thank the refs for not calling them out on their dirty play. Suns had it won!
Jul.20 at 12:15 pm
Tom says:
HOLY MOSES!!!
Jul.20 at 12:22 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
Here’s a hint or two…
http://slamonline.com/online/2007/07/links-wanna-bet/
Jul.20 at 12:36 pm
Reggie Evans says:
Cubes is gonna love it when he hears this ref officiated in the Dallas-Miami Finals two seasons ago.
Jul.20 at 12:48 pm
Pat B says:
Apparently Stern knew about the investigation!?!?!?!?
Jul.20 at 12:55 pm
A-Money says:
wow @ infinitesimal. Thanks for the ever increasing vocab Marcel
Jul.20 at 1:07 pm
Co Co says:
My money is on Javie. I bet Sheed is somewhere sayin I told yall.
Jul.20 at 1:11 pm
mutoni says:
slam is for the kids, a-money.
Jul.20 at 1:18 pm
baker's dozen (12-13) says:
Violet Palmer…the NBA needs you!
Jul.20 at 1:25 pm
Ric Bucher says:
This is a very serious offense for the NBA. At least Mike Vick can take a little break from being in the media spotlight for a little while.
Jul.20 at 1:29 pm
jbn74sb says:
Mutoni - I know this is the least news-worthy aspect of the post, but about 1/2 way through the year last year, all of the Lakers games were broadcast in HD. The main issue was whether or not your provider carried the HD channel.
Jul.20 at 1:30 pm
SLAM ONLINE | » Rigged from the Top says:
[…] This morning, the New York Post released a report that an NBA gambling ring is about to be busted up by the FBI. They’re accused of rigging point spreads, which doesn’t necessarily rule out that the win-loss column was affected. The ring includes mobsters and associates and, lo, an NBA referee. We don’t know which one. […]
Jul.20 at 1:52 pm
Greased Up Deaf Guy aka Clay Davis says:
west coast bias with ric bucher. whats up with the warriors?
Jul.20 at 2:11 pm
Ric Bucher says:
This situation is bigger than the Palace brawl I agree on that. I have heard from a few sources confirming what offical was.
Jul.20 at 2:14 pm
Joel O's says:
Agreed, Max. Think about it - why would the mob bet on some meaningless Celtics-Grizzlies games? Fixing games, getting a referee in their pocket is big risk - which signifies big returns, and big games. You’re right, Stern will try his darndest to prevent anyone from knowing which games, but I have a feeling it’ll leak out somehow. How many titles / MVP’s / etc. are going to be tainted?
Jul.20 at 2:15 pm
Ric Bucher says:
involved
Jul.20 at 2:22 pm
The Detective says:
OK, if you narrow it down to guys who have not been reffing very long, and live close to NYC, you get three guys:
Matt Boland - 3 seasons - 2.5 hrs from NYC in Groton CT
Ed Malloy - 4 seasons - 2 hrs away in Phili (but why go all the way to NY if you live in Phili)
Zach Zarba - 3 seasons - Brooklyn NY.
My money is on Zarba.
Jul.20 at 3:33 pm
Joe elvo says:
could it be R. Mott? lives in vegas… u can gamble anywhere but vegas would be the best place to feed your addiction.
Jul.20 at 3:50 pm
The Spin says:
Tim Donaghy is going down. If you think he is the only one, you are mistaken. I wrote up on this. Check me at www.clutch3.com
Joey Crawford is next!
Jul.20 at 4:22 pm
necey says:
i think that the reff that was doing this needs to be ponished for macking the nba look bad b/c this is going to upset a lot of the players and they are not going to fill comfterbul playing in a leaug having to think that ther hard work will not be worth eney thing b/c the reff
Jul.21 at 12:16 am
Chukaz says:
What the NBA needs right now is Pacman Jones.
Jul.21 at 1:21 pm
Stuckey says:
The reports coming out say he only reffed 5 games in last year’s playoffs and they were all different series. He could have had an effect on betting lines though. I’m glad Stern is the NBA Commissioner though because he’s the best at dealing with situations like this. He won’t take any crap. Funny article on Stern and the situation: http://www.sportsdopes.com/
Jul.21 at 9:28 pm
The Spin says:
In addition, this is the guy that got Rasheed Wallace suspended. Check it out at www.clutch3.com
Jun.11 at 12:13 am
El Grande says:
NBA=WWF