but sometimes it feels like his legacy lives on in the NBA. The game of basketball has a quick pace and a continuous flow that makes it difficult for the refs to be completely accurate on every single call, many of us understand that fact. When you hear that certain refs have preferences for certain players and teams it seems like Donaghy was a scape goat for the rest of the NBA. The problem becomes worse when the schedule appears to favor certain big market teams while appearing to screw over some of the less favorable teams.

       I dont want to make any out right claims of corruption since the NBA is my favorite professional league but they need to find a way to amend bad calls. Every coach should have the ability to request a video review, but not in a way to impede the flow of the game. I also believe that referee’s should be held accountable for making bad calls whether by suspension or fine it should be made understood that the league will not tolerate favoritism from the game officials.

     On the flip side it is frustrating to watch players ask the officials for a call repeatedly during a game. Ideally the players should have no need to ever speak to an official during a game instead they should let the refs focus on the game and get back to playing. Overall its an issue with no clear or easy solution, maybe one day the NBA can make the game fair, but for now all we can do is support our favorite team no matter how poorly the officials call the game.

    This post is definitely right on and I agree with it completely. All thats left is for the NBA to take a look and act on it. Good post Andrew!

I do believe that some officials are biased towards other teams, and that there have been people on the inside who had the know and gambled illegally, getting 70-80% of the games. I also think some officials try their best to get the team they are biased against to lose, but not overwhelmingly. Having said that, I don’t think it is a thing where David Stern is sitting there in his chair saying “Lakers, Celtics this year in Finals, make it happen!”, otherwise, we would not have to watch the likes of boring, small Market teams like the Spurs to win FOUR golden balls with defense first mentalities, or the Pistons for that matter dominating the east for that 6 year stretch, but I do believe David Stern does nudge officials just a little so that the big market teams get an edge, but not to the point of total blatancy.

Just my opinion though, if I were to find out that the NBA is rigged, I won’t ever watch another game, buy any merchandise, buy a ticket or anything of the sort that would support the NBA.

…an OFFICIAL statement from Stern concerning what he plans to do about this from here on out. It’s all well to say that it’s not happening anymore because Donaghy is gone, but with him claiming that some of the refs at fault are still currently reffing the games…

Like CloudBurst said, if I were to find out that the NBA is rigged, I wouldn’t want anything to do with it either, but the NBA is going on as though this isn’t even an issue any more. It seems as though the NBA is using a sort-of ‘forgive and forget’ policy, (although more of a ‘Send Donaghy to Prison and forget’ kind of thing), but I’d like to see some action taken, and your suggestions, Andrew, are in the right direction.

Although I’m not particularly in favor of #2, #1 & #3 are great suggestions. I know it’d slow the game down, but if the replay system was used more fully, or, even better, the challenge system was instituted, sometimes the player who’s whining, may actually end up looking like less of a whiner rather than ending up with a technical. I don’t recall any recent, specific incidents where a player has whined and actually got the call reversed, do you? (i’m talking about the ones that are actually wrong calls that were disproved by the televised replay, but not reviewed on the floor, and thus, not overturned).

the bulls game in chicago is a great example of how it works both ways. miller’s shot was no good and the correct call. the bigger question was before the shot when billups missed the free throw. how much time was left in the game after the ball hits the rim, the player rebounds and calls time out. there are an endless amount of rules that can be changed and enacted. the bigger issue is consistency. the best example is when the nba fined stephen jackson for his trade demand over the summer. kobe bryant had a constant melodrama going on over several months. this shows there is a star system to some degree. if the league cannot be even handed about issues that happen over several weeks how can the refs be held accountable for split second decisions?

That’s a pretty damn substantial damnation you admonish without much proof. There are a great deal of other things that can lead to free throw disparity other than referee bias. How about game 2 of the 2008 NBA finals? The Celtics shot 38 freethrows to the Lakers 10. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore?gid=2008060802 for the boxscore.

That’s a much bigger difference than in the Portland vs. LA game and the final score was just about as close. Does this game fit your conspiracy theory cleanly? Of course it doesn’t, because the Lakers and Celtics are both very big market teams so there’s no reason for the referees to favor either team, especially when both have already reached the pinnacle of the NBA season. But what if it was the Nuggets shooting 10 free throws to the Celtics 38? Something, I don’t know exactly what, but SOMETHING tells me I’d be reading about it in this article.

The reason the Lakers won that game is because the Blazers absolutely choked in the fourth quarter. The referees can’t propel a team to a 17 point fourth quarter comeback in game 7 of the playoffs. The sheer number of biased and terrible calls that would require would cause outrage throughout the league. Go ahead and mosey on over to blazersedge and ask them why Portland lost that game. They’ll tell you its because the Lakers made them into jumpshooters and they went absolutely cold. Much like the referees can’t make you shoot 50% from the free throw line or botch inbound plays for you, they can’t hold you to 13 points in a quarter either.

Anyways, enjoy your conspiracy theories. I hope the Nuggets do well this season and go deep in the playoff! They are, in my opinion, the second best team in the West.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWNAOYOn3vw&feature=related

It features our very own George Karl, came long before Donaghy’s book contents leaked and provides some great insight. The bottom line is that there are too many questionable relationships between refs and coaches, refs and players and refs and owners. Games aren’t “fixed” per se but they sure as fuck aren’t fair either. While I like the changes, Andrew’s solutions are treating symptoms. The “disease” that needs to be cured is the off-court familiarity and fraternization between certain referees and certain players and coaches.

…I watched last night’s game with a jaundiced eye as Dick “the fixer” Bavetta was refereeing the game and as AI leading the Sixers to victory would have created a lot of favorable attention to the NBA and Philadelphia.

I have to say that Melo’s off night might have been a product of him not getting into his free throw rhythm because of non-calls on his drives (snowballing into Melo playing like an idiot), and Philadelphia seemed to play very physically.

If there is anything to that, Andrew’s point is spot-on. Denver’s trapping defense made steals so quickly out of nowhere, it would have been hard to pre-meditate a foul call against the Nugs, and of course the refs can’t keep a bad team from shooting bricks, and can’t keep a torrid JR Smith, Billups, and Ty Lawson from making their shots. No ref could have fixed the Nugs out of their run last night.

The only criticisms I have have already been addressed in the comments section here.

I think the answer is more film reviews and fining refs who make inconsistent calls. With high definition and multiple camera angles, there is no reason teams who felt they got stiffed by an official in a game can’t ask the league to review the game film for inconsistent calls. From what I understand some of this is happening already.

There were several calls against the Nuggets in that San Antonio game that were either bullshit or a result of the officials falling for the Spurs’ acting. I think just like showing players game film, it would benefit the refs to see some of the questionable calls. Since I do not for a second believe there is a vast,league-wide conspiracy, pointing out these inconsistencies will be a great way for refs to understand and compensate for their subconscious biases.

There is so much work to be done in changing the culture. But, hopefully, some small steps can start us down the path.

…that Chicago/Nuggets game, where the refs got the last call right when all the pressure of the home crowd in a big market could have let them give the game to the Bulls.

Also, I watched that youtube clip that featured George Karl from last summer. Bavetta should be forced to retire.

You put it as well as anyone: games aren’t “fixed,” but they are “nudged” from time to time when there is an obviously desirable outcome for the league. Such nudging does not typically, in and of itself, determine the outcomes of games, and a team playing well enough can always overcome it, but it can be a factor in determining the general tilt of a close game/series.

People trying to prove or disprove a massive NBA conspiracy miss the point completely. There nothing down on paper, no directives from Stern. These people are smart enough to know that any kind of methodical, systemic fixing of games would be easily caught out, so they’re more subtle about it. The refs, like most employees in a business, know what their bosses want without having to be told, and that they’ll be gvien a certain amount of leeway should they influence a game or series in a particular way.

BTW, note that NBA defenders always throw out the “fixing” straw man when under fire, but never address the more obvious & plausible “nudging” theory…

I am a big time hater of David Stern, maybe often irrationally so, but in my eyes he must go already. He cares more about money then a fair and balanced playing field(which I know is often the case anywhere), there always seems to be a team or player(usually big names) that get favored by the NBA. I think when you compare Melo to Kobe you see the discrepancy, Melo doesn’t have the respect from the refs yet, probably for they way he acted the first few years of his career, and doesn’t get the type of “star” calls guys like Kobe, Lebron, Chris Paul get. I wouldn’t mind that one bit, because I hate “star” calls, if non of the big name players get preferential treatment but they do, I agree it’s not fixing but nudging, but if that nudging results in a team losing a close game instead of winning a close one then that is sort of a fixed results(if that makes any sense).

… but he might have helped the Lakers get into a position where those bad passes changed the outcome of the games. At least some of Donaghy’s allegations are plausible to me, and if they are not refuted by the NBA, will “nudge” me away from the NBA to other sports where the establishment/refs can’t/won’t do as much to help the big boys win.

Just follow what they do in rugby, only the captain can talk to the referees. Any one else mouths off they get a “T” (perhaps make it a special T where they dont get run after two or what the hell make it a normal one). I know it would be a bit difficult with all of the substitutions that take place but the coach could designate a player in the game at that time.

When has the NBA ever had a cinderalla team win the championship? I think the closest was the 74-75 Warriors and that may be a stretch too. I think the NBA would do well to have some cinderella stories, it might increase national attention, but they won’t allow it. The big markets are where the TV money is. It’s all about money. The NBA is a show, not a sport.

At the end of this season the NBA needs to quietly retire Bavetta and several others. They need to bring in more young, taller and ex-player (not necessarily NBA player) referees. They need to have a situation where the players seldom see the same official for more than 8 games in a season (more refs). They need to make it a rule that refs may not touch players except to intervene in a situation that could lead to violence. Players should not be allowed to touch referees under any circumstances except incidental contact as a result of play.They need to make it a “by rule” technical foul for any player other than the team captain to speak to the refs. They need to prohibit referees from speaking to players or coaches except in response to what was said to them. Referees and their families must be prohibited from owning NBA merchandise or gear that is autographed by a player or has been worn by a player. Referees must have unlisted phone numbers and may not give their phone numbers to employees of any team. In other words, there has to be more separation between refs and players. It would be interesting to have sports officiating provided by an independent company instead of them being employees of the league.

There’s a problem with the idea of referee stats in that no one is compiling them right now. They’d have to hire a lot more people to do that and they aren’t going to do that with the economy the way it is.

The NBA is a product. We’re not taxpayers as much as consumers. If we choose to spend our money on NBA products, that’s our choice. We expect an honest product. I’ve talked to lots of people over the last 30 years or so that say they don’t pay attention to the NBA because the players get away with traveling, or there’s superstar calls or whatever their reason is, it boils down to a sense that it’s not on the up and up. Instead of trying to get those people back the NBA chose to market star players and that has been a sucessful formula for them with the people who get into that sort of thing. Kobe would be doing time for rape if he wasn’t sold so well to the people that buy into the stardom and send death threats to his accuser. The NBA would sell just as well to the basketball fans if it were a basketball product instead of a star product, but they can’t transition back to that without losing a lot of money in the process. So we’re stuck with it for some time to come. It’s all about money, after all it is PROFESSIONAL basketball.

NFL officials have the opportunity to make about once a minute. An MLB ump makes a call a throw. The rest make calls as needed. In the NBA the three officials make scads of calls. This rises two points. First, they should have a paper trail that can bear scrutiny like no other. Second, they make so many calls that it is almost understandable that they are going to make mistakes.

On the first hand we should be able to tell if there is a discrepancy because if counted it would jump off the page. Or, on the second they have to make so many calls we should understand if they screw up.

Either way, on most of our jobs we get graded. NBA refs seem to be out there on their own with no one to answer to.

Can’t remember her name but I would like to see the nuggets record with her officiating. I think she honestly hates Kenyon Martin and it always seems like the nuggets have a tough game with her,
Joey Crawford also comes to mind, he definitely tries to get back at players, but with all teams not just Denver,
I know of another ref who is tough on the nuggets but cant remember his name but if I saw his face I would know him right away. Damn this is gonna bother me.

Personally, I welcome the jabs taken towards the Lakers. Just as much as I love the “Beat LA” signs and T-Shirts by all other organizations. In reality that is just promoting the Lakers brand. Any exposure is good exposure.

One thing that is ironic is that this post is whining about whining. I think that the Donahy topic is a good scape goat to use when trying to say that a team you dislike is so much more successful.

Your focus on the Lakers and their success says more about your unhappiness and insecurity you have toward your own team. It is not our fault that the Lakers have the highest salary because they are willing to pay through the roof to get quality players and to win. Do you think that the refs had something to do with that to?

Your post reminds me of that comment made by Jack Nicholson in a Few Good Men, “You Can’t Handle the Truth!” Just accept that your team is decent but have a long way to go but please don’t give us this “whoa is me” mentality and accept that your team and organization is what it is. By the way, you mentioned you bought some NBA work out pants do you know what that is on the NBA logo on those pants?

But I just have to say that while I agree with what the writer said about the 2002 WCF Game 7, it needs to be mentioned that had the refs not fixed (yes, I said fixed, not nudged) Game 6, the Kings would’ve won the championship. Any team can have an off night, and I’d guess that in a lot of close series that ended in 6 would’ve gone the other way had there been a Game 7. Some of the calls were so absurd in Game 6 that there’s no way it was just the refs “nudging” the game. I don’t actually believe that they wanted to fix the series for the Lakers to win. Rather, the NBA wanted the series to go to 7 games to squeeze out every last penny possible.

But really, in Game 6, when Kobe elbows Bibby in the face, knocking him to the ground and causing his nose to bleed, and they call a foul on Bibby, you know the game is full-on fixed, no question.

I don’t actually remember the 2000 WCF game mentioned, but it doesn’t surprise me at all that the Lakers would have a huge free throw discrepency. You can easily take a team out of a game by getting them into foul trouble early. They play less aggressively and therefore are taken out of their rhythm.

Oh, and some of the Laker fans/trolls on here are just pathetic. Why can’t you accept that fact that the NBA benefits from your team winning because of the fan base (tons are bandwagon fans, but whatever)? Thus, they want your team to succeed. Same with Boston. Beyond the actual teams, there is the superstar aspect. Star players ALWAYS get more calls in their favor than lesser players. Obviously this means Kobe gets way more calls in his favor, but so did Jordan and so does LeBron right now. It isn’t specific to one team, but since you have a player like Kobe your team will be getting more calls in it’s favor. It’s just a fact. Accept it.

You say that all we do is blame our troubles on the refs and everyone else, never actually placing blame on our own organization…umm hmm, what was the original name of Denver Stiffs again? Oh thats right it was firegeorgekarl.com but you wouldn’t know that because you’d rather not even bother to actually read what we say before you pop off and start spouting nonsense and false accusations, and why would you? life is good when the blinders are on aye

The Lakers’ following is not just a function of their large market. Look at their Staples Center co-tenants: the Clippers. The Clippers averaged 16,170 fans at home games and only 38,000 television viewers on average.

It is up to the fans to support their team. That is what makes you a big market team.

If your team’s mascot starts with an L, you get all the calls. Prove me wrong.