NBA Bank Bailout Story

It seems the tough economic times are even affecting sports, which has always been a booming business driven by ticket sales, merchandise, pay-per-view packages and other related purchases. According to the Associated Press, $200 million dollars in total bank loans is being made available to interested NBA teams. Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal has reported that a maximum of $11.66 million will be available to each of the 15 NBA teams that expressed interest in the assistance. David Stern noted that this is not a bailout, but instead a show of the "credit worthiness of NBA teams". The money can be used for any purpose, hopefully within reason.

According to Sports Handicapping, the money was being secured from Bank of America and JP Morgan. One team, the Phoenix Suns, has reportedly dropped their line of credit from a local bank in favor of the new line of credit. The Suns have relied on the local bank funding in addition to the NBA's for the past fice years. According to Bizjournals.com, the money made available through the NBA will replace current debt rather than be used for incremental loans.

Read more about the funding and bailout possibilities here.

Tim Donaghy's 15 Months of Fame

Tim Donaghy rocked the NBA, basketball and sports world months ago when it was discovered he had assisted in fixing games and also had been betting on games. Mob involvement was uncovered by the FBI and Donaghy soon was on the hot seat. Donaghy sang as soon as he was caught, discussing how other refs may have been involved. David Stern, always the face of justice in sports, cited Donaghy as a rogue criminal acting alone, as no other NBA officials could possibly be involved. Donaghy was accused of trying to lighten his sentence by singing about others who may or may not have been involved. Finally, as of Tuesday, Tim Donaghy finally received the punishment for his crimes. Two concurrent 15 month prison terms for the betting and fixing of NBA games.

On the Mike and Mike radio show on ESPN, they talked to a Gambling Addiction Counselor/Advisor who's been working with Donaghy. The counselor continued to discuss how gambling is a serious addiction for many, and that the rest of us who don't have the addiction simply don't understand. Donaghy may have received a much ligher sentence than deserved, and while there's many gamblers and many addicts in the world, all actions are a choice we make. The consequences of a crime whether an addict are not, don't change. Donaghy now has 15 months to rebuild mentally and start to piece back together what he threw away by participating in gambling and mob activity.

2007 NBA Game Protest Upheld

Looks like a bit of interesting basketball history has been made. The Hawks vs Heat game from December 19th 2007 is now officially under review. Commissioner David Stern decided that the Hawks staff were "grossly negligent" in committing a scoring error which may have resulted in costing the Heat the Overtime game.

According to NBA.com's report:

"The Heat protested the game because, with 51.9 seconds remaining in overtime, the Hawks' scoring table personnel incorrectly disqualified the Heat's Shaquille O'Neal – asserting that a foul committed by O'Neal was his sixth foul of the game, when in fact it was only his fifth. The error occurred because the Hawks’ Official Scorer mistakenly attributed to O’Neal a foul at 3:24 remaining in the fourth period that was actually called against the Heat’s Udonis Haslem."

So the reasoning is that without Shaq, the Heat were at a disadvantage. As of right now each team's record has been edited by 1 game. 1 Loss was taken away from Miami, and the 1 win taken was away from the Hawks. There will be a replay of the final 51.9 seconds of the game prior to the teams' next meeting on March 8, 2008. This will determine the winner of the game, and let's hope there's proper officiating and stat keeping this time.

It's definitely an interesting story that we havent' seen recently in the NBA or any sports of recent times. ESPN's Pardon the Interruption team made the excellent point that all of the gambling money awarded on this game is definitely something to consider now. According to NBA.com, this is also the first protest granted since 12/14/82, when then NBA commish Larry O'Brien granted a protest by San Antonio Spurs over a 137-132 Double OT loss. Read more at NBA.com.

5 NBA Stories to Watch

Even though the NBA season is still over a month away, here is a list of 5 stories which should be interesting to see for the upcoming 2007-08 NBA Season. There's been some big moves in the offseason, some free agent signings that really helped the Eastern Conference and of course the Tim Donaghy referee scandal which hangs over the NBA's head as it enters the season.

1) The Triple Threat in Boston - KG, Pierce, Allen
A no brainer for the top story of the upcoming season. Will the 3 stars co-exist? Will they bring back Celtic glory? It seems obvious that they are destined to hit the playoffs, but the bigger question is how much farther will they go once they're in? It will definitely be a fun season to watch for Celtics fans with plenty of highlight reel plays.

2) Kevin Durant - ROY top candidate
During the summer there was a vote put out to all rookies asking who they thought will be the Rookie of the Year for this season. Interestingly enough, Durant won the vote. He seems to have a "clear path" to the award now due to the unfortunate injury to Greg Oden. Durant should be extremely fun to watch this year and provide some great highlights on ESPN Sportscenter. Don't expect the Sonics to be in the playoffs, but expect Durant to win the Rookie of the Year.

3)The NBA rules & Commissioner Stern
It will be interesting to see how much effect the Tim Donaghy story has had on Stern's watch over the other referees now. Will Stern change rules as the season progresses? Will we hear about referees receiving fines for making bad calls? This should be interesting because many have commented how distressed David Stern appeared over the whole incident. How will the Commish handle the pressure?

4)How Will the Cavs Bounce Back?
The Cleveland Cavaliers were severely outmatched in the Finals this past season. The Spurs had too much firepower and depth for Lebron's gang to handle. Now usually when a superstar receives that sort of beatdown, it only makes them hungrier for the title. How will Lebron and the Cavs respond to the Finals disappointment this year? Will they be back again or will another Eastern team take over?

5)A Stronger Eastern Conference?
The knock on the Eastern Conference for the past several years has been its weakness (despite having guys like Shaq, Lebron, D-Wade and 2 NBA title winning teams: Detroit and Miami). With the free agent signings such as Rashard Lewis going to Orlando, KG and Ray Allen going to Boston, the Knicks getting Zach Randolph, it seems as if the East is ready to contend and shake off that "weak" label its been wearing. It's tough to say which Eastern team will be the Finals contender, and you could easily look at 5-6 teams as potential candidates.

Overall this is going to make for one very interesting 2007-08 NBA season...

Dallas Stars Advertising Humor

A bit of an NHL tie-in to the whole Tim Donaghy NBA referee scandal here. The Dallas Stars decided to use some advertising on a billboard (above) involving the NBA's latest problem.

From dallasnews.com:

"If you've seen the billboard near American Airlines Center, you might think the Stars should be sent to the penalty box for slashing another sport when it's down.

Or you could soak in the message – "The only thing our refs shave is the ice" – and do what Mavericks owner Mark Cuban did.

Laugh.

"I think it's hysterical," Cuban said. "Good for them. It's a fun ad."

NBA commissioner David Stern isn't laughing. But then, how many Stars home games was he going to attend anyway? "

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They often say controversy creates cash. In this case, Dallas Stars are looking for more fans to show up for their games. However, something to ponder- who's to say how many other professional refs may have ever been involved in "fixing" games or point spreads?

Check out the full article from Dallas News.

Stern Stands by Refs

David Stern originally said he believed the illegal gambling actions of former ref Tim Donaghy were isolated. Now that Donaghy has stated he will name names of refs involved in gambling, Stern is taking an approach of letting hisst refs do the talking. Stern gave the media comments regarding the matter while he was watching Team USA in Vegas.

From afp.google.com:

"NBA chief David Stern said the National Basketball Association's internal probe of its officials will look into whether the commissioner's office missed telling signs of an illegal betting scandal.

"I am open to seeing whether I have done a good enough job," NBA commissioner Stern said. "We are going to see whether I have done a good job monitoring this over the years. Whatever we do, this is going to very open."

Speaking at the FIBA America's 2008 Beijing Olympic qualifying tournament in the US gambling capital of Las Vegas, Stern said some referees are reluctant to speak out during the initial phase of the investigation.

"We need to allow our referees to tell us what the facts are," Stern said Thursday prior to the USA and Argentina second round game. "Many don't want to speak out. We are going to find ways to allow referees more ability to respond." Full article here.

Will Donaghy Bring Down the House?

The first thing I thought when I heard that former NBA referee Tim Donaghy would be "naming names" of other referees was "if I'm going down, then so are the rest of em'". It also looks like "well if I was caught gambling and was wrong, so are they". It seems as if Donaghy will be discussing other referees involved in some sort of betting action, but were they involved with the Mafia? That remains to be seen.

David Stern's take (reported in a USA Today article):

"Why would we believe anything he says?" Stern said. "What we're going to do is give all 60 referees a chance to give us information about their activities, while legal, that violate our rules."

A very good point. To believe that someone who's facing felony charges and possibly fearing for his life is going to be upfront might be far fetched. Tim Donaghy may very likely be trying to throw himself into a whirlwind of controversy just to take the focus of himself.

NBA to Vegas? Fat Chance

AEG and Harrah's Entertainment are looking to partner and build a multi-million dollar sports entertainment arena, set to open in Vegas by 2010. The catch is, they don't have a commitment from an NBA or NHL team to put a team there.

From latimes.com:

" LAS VEGAS -- Would AEG and Harrah's Entertainment form a partnership for a privately financed $500-million arena project set to open here in 2010 without a commitment from the NBA or NHL?

Yes . . . and no.

Turns out, it depends on how you want to define commitment.

It's significantly more complicated than the answers given by Harrah's Chairman Gary Loveman and AEG Chairman Tim Leiweke at a news conference Wednesday to announce the alliance to build the 20,000-seat, state-of-the-art facility, which will be on about 10 acres of land one block east of the Strip, behind Harrah's Bally's and Paris resorts.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for 2008, and Loveman called the arena "part of our global-growth strategy and very much part of our master plan for Las Vegas."

Leiweke stressed in a series of comments that there was no commitment from NBA Commissioner David Stern or his NHL counterpart Gary Bettman. But in a separate interview, he made it clear there was enough progress behind the scenes on the NHL front and with Bettman to make this deal fall into place now.

"We know we're doing this without a commitment from him or anyone else there's going to be a team here," he told The Times. "That said, if we didn't feel strongly there was the right kind of ownership group already out there -- and the right kind of dialogue going on between that ownership group and the league -- I think we probably would have waited."

Considering the surroundings, Leiweke couldn't resist the obvious line.

"It's Vegas, we're putting our chips down here and we'll see what happens," he said."

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Not the best timing for this sort of conversation on the NBA front. It could still be a possibility for an NHL team though but maybe all of the sports leagues should take notes from what's going on in the NBA right now.

Team USA & David Stern news

Team USA will play its first game of the FIBA Tournament of the Americas tonight at 11PM EST on ESPN Classic. NBA.com provides an extensive analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of Venzuela's team. Venzuela's main star player is Oscar Torres, the only of their players to have played in the NBA (Houston and Golden State 2001-2003).

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From NBA.com:

NBA Commissioner David Stern announced today that the NBA has named Lawrence B. Pedowitz, a former Chief of the Criminal Division in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and current partner at law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to lead a comprehensive review of the league's rules, policies, and procedures relating to gambling and its officiating program.


The news comes several days after former ref Tim Donaghy said he will name several NBA referees who have been involved in a gambling ring or gambling incidents.Read more at NBA.com.

Donaghy Naming Names

Former NBA ref Tim Donaghy is now giving up info on other NBA referees who he said have bet while employed by the NBA. It is not known what sort of betting they have done at this point.

From ESPN.com:

"Former NBA official Tim Donaghy will reportedly give federal prosecutors information that will implicate other referees in some forms of gambling activity as part of his cooperation with government officials.

The offenses might not include any criminal activity, but could draw the ire of NBA commissioner David Stern, who has insisted the Donaghy situation was that of a "rogue, isolated criminal."

A report on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York said Donaghy will give prosecutors as many as 20 names of other NBA officials and will detail their involvement in some form of gambling activity. The specifics of the gambling allegations are reportedly believed to include betting in casinos."

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This could spell bad news for the NBA as David Stern originally said he believed this was the act of just one referee. It's not reported yet just what the betting was by the other officials, so they may not have been involved in the same sort of bets or mafia ring as Donaghy was. Donaghy has already plead guilty to federal conspiracy charges that he passed alongside info on NBA games.

Full ESPN.com article on Donaghy here.

NBA News - Ref Scandal

The NBA is in the news, and the season has yet to start. Go figure. The referee scandal is monopolizing headlines along with the Michael Vick scandal and the Barry Bonds scandal. Don't forget to add in the Chris Benoit/WWE/Scandal.

A few days ago David Stern discussed the allegations against one of its former referees, Tim Donaghy. Since then, a flurry of news reports and articles have come out. Here's a sampling for your reading pleasure:

Players Speak Out on NBA Referee Scandal
MSNBC Newsweek article which includes comments from various players such as Allen Iverson and a few unnamed superstars. Are the anonymous stars fearing for their lives? Iverson is definitely one tough dude.

NBA's fix: Illegal bookies could help prevent gambling scandals
USA Today article discussing how gambling experts say if David Stern wants to avoid a repeat, his league should go beyond its current reliance on law enforcement and legal betting regulators in Nevada and forge new and better relationships with illegal bookmakers who are usually the first to get wind of game-fixing scams.

A Scandal The NBA Can Live With
Forbes.com which looks at the NBA business and how the scandal will not hurt it, discussing how controversy doesn't always hurt sports. Mark Cuban comments in the article as well as some sports marketing experts.

Attacks on Stern & NBA

There's been some harsh recent criticism and scrutiny placed on Commissioner David Stern and the NBA due to the referee betting scandal. While I can't draw parallels between the crimes of gambling and murder, I see this situation similar to how the media is attacking World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. One employee of a league or company makes improper and bad decisions to commit illegal acts, and the media runs wild with it. The WWE has been attacked about steroid abuse and bad policy as a possible reason Chris Benoit may have snapped and murdered his wife and son, and then commited suicide. The NBA is receiving similar scrutiny of its policies now due to the actions of its referee who has allegedly bet on games he may have refereed in.

I only compare these as ways of showing how the media will use a story based on one individual's actions to try to "expose" how bad a league or sport is. It's poor reporting to do this because judging an entire sports league or entertainment company on the bad actions of just one employee is unfair and ignorant. Now the major differences here are definitely the heinous nature of the crimes and where they were committed. Benoit's crime occurred away from his place of employment while the NBA referee allegations are crimes that may have occurred during Donaghy's employment. Still, the media has used both of these events to launch huge investigations and reports on how bad the company policies may be. For some reason the NFL has been seperated from Michael Vick and the dogfighting allegations. There's not much discussion that the NFL could have done more to prevent Vick's actions, and there is more discussion of him acting wrongfully as an individual. Of course with the WWE and NBA scandals, we can always pose the question "what more could have been done to prevent this?"

David Stern is entirely right when he claims that you can have all the policy in the world but even then "determined individuals can still commit crimes". I don't believe Stern should be criticized for an allegedly crooked referee doing what he did, and possibly being connected to the mob. As others have stated we have crooked politicians, judges, teachers, police officers and other citizens in our country. Who is held liable for their actions? It should be the individual who committed them. When most good, legitimate and honest companies discover someone has violated policies, they take appropriate actions. There's no such thing as perfect policy which controls things exactly and justly. If Stern states that the NBA works with experts in security and runs vigorous background checks, I trust his judgement and understanding of how the policy works. I also trust that Stern will tweak his system to ensure it is even better. After all, Stern has implemented a dress code to give players a more professional appearance, and I am willing to bet he will take steps to ensure his referee staff is held to the highest standards possible.

Jalen Rose Discusses Ref Scandal

Jalen Rose appeared on ESPN2's Cold Pizza after David Stern's press conference regarding the alleged illegal betting scandal by referee Tim Donoghy. Rose said he hopes the league can regain the trust of the fans because he doesn't want it to become like the WWF. Rose said as more information becomes available the fans will be made aware by the NBA.

Rose said he still has confidence in the NBA referees who have the toughest job in major league sports because they make so many judgement calls over the course of a game. Rose said the fact there may be mob involvement with Donaghy, you have to look at if it was choice, chance or circumstance.

Rose said he expects a tremendous amount of change now if this is the worst thing David Stern has seen in his 40 years with the NBA.

David Stern Press Conference

David Stern held a press conference at 11AM EST today to address the media and general public regarding the alleged betting and fixed calls made by referee Tim Donoghy.

In Stern's statement he said "Good morning. We're here today to discuss the investigation into certain allegations against referee Tim Donghy." Stern presented NBA policies and what they can and can not do regarding the investigation. Stern said the rules for referees are crystal clear with regards to not gambling on games or providing info to others about those games. Stern said discipline for this would be expulsion from the job. Stern said they extensively educate the referees who work in the NBA to learn the rules of the game and policies. Stern said the NBA has a large security department headed by Bernie Tolbert a former FBI agent with a background in undercover work. Stern said there is also a security network which has a security representative for each NBA team. Stern noted these representatives are usually FBI, local policemen or DEA.

In addition to constant contact with their security representatives, Stern said they are in contact with DEA and homeland security department. Stern said the NBA referees are subjected to extensive security checks with regards to the limits of the law. In the past few years they have had background checks which look at credit, bank accounts, assets and debt. Stern said with the NBA's concern for gambling they have retained a consultant in Vegas to inform them of unusual movements of betting on the NBA. Stern included they are in contact with Nevada Gaming Board as well.

Stern said there is an instrument used to capture every call a referee makes and every non-call a ref is considered to make. Stern said there are about 30 observers at each game who observe the referee calls and later review the game on tape. Stern said they also have 4 additional basketball experts who audit the observers of the game calls.

Stern said in January of 2005 it became known to NBA that referee Tim Donoghy was involved in disputes with a neighbor in PA. Stern said the NBA hired an investigator to look into that allegation. At the time, Stern said Donoghy informed them the allegations were untrue and he was the one being harassed. Stern said at this time someone had also suggested Donoghy gambled. Stern said Donoghy denied this as well. Stern said they investigated the claim and all investigations came up negative. Stern said the dispute between Donoghy and his neighbor continued. Stern said Donoghy was told he would not work the second round of the 2005 playoffs due to the problems with his neighbor, and that if continued he would be fired from the NBA. Stern said besides these matters nothing raised any suspicion regarding his calls on the court as his accuracy has always been top notch.

Stern said they received a call from FBI on June 20, 2007 shortly after the NBA Finals, with the FBI asking to come in and talk regarding the allegations against a referee betting. Stern said they met the next day to discuss this matter. Stern said as this is a continuing investigation he is unable to comment on the information exchanged between the FBI and the NBA office currently. Stern gave his interpretation of what Tim Donoghy is accused of, saying Donoghy is accused of betting on NBA games and that he possibly bet on games he worked and did not work in. Stern said he understands Donoghy is accused of giving info to others to allow them to profit on betting on NBA games. Stern said he does not know the number of games, which games Donoghy may have bet on and who else might have known about the situation. Stern said Donoghy resigned on July 9, 2007. Stern said this was a choice by the NBA to assist the investigation of the FBI, because they felt a firing would not be best for it. Stern said over the alleged 2 season time period that Donoghy is accused of betting he refereed 139 regular season, 8 playoff games and 4 preseason games. Stern said at this time Donoghy is the only referee believed to be involved in this.

Stern said there is speculation about the NBA knowing Donoghy was betting this past year, and Stern said this is untrue. He also said as commissioner he retains the best outside experts and consultants to advise the NBA on how to handle things best. Stern noted this is the most serious and worst matter he has had to deal with while a part of the NBA in the past 40 years. Stern said they are currently doing the best they possibly can, and that doesn't always mean criminal activity from a determined individual will go unnoticed. Stern said they plan to improve things to keep their bond strong with their fans.

During media questions, Stern said he is surprised at how a referee could get away with this despite all the procedures and security measurements in place. Stern said he continues to ask what more can be done to ensure this won't happen, and that expert help will aid him in implementing the best policies. Stern said outside of wire tapping and 24/7 surveillance of their employees there isn't much more they could do outside of the current policies. Stern said he will continue to be protective of his referees who are besmirched by coaches and players. Stern said he will let the investigation run its course but believes this is an isolated, rogue criminal and no other referees were involved.

Ref Scandal Hurts NBA

Note: The referee pictured above is a generic referee picture and not a picture of the guilty individual.

As a fan of the NBA for many years now, hearing about the recent NBA referee betting scandal is definitely troubling. The extent of the involved referee's actions hasn't been presented yet, but one reporter claimed the ref may have affected calls in anywhere from 10-99 NBA games total over the course of a season. Recent sports shows are correct in saying if not for the Barry Bonds homerun chase and the Michael Vick dogfighting charges, this would be the top headline in sports.

The main problem with this scandal, is the ref basically made calls which influenced the scores in NBA games, which he was also betting on. There was a connection with the mob as well. The questions start to run rampant as to whether or not it was just one referee involved here or if there are more. You also start to wonder if he was only affecting the actual spreads in games or the actual winner/loser. Luckily the NBA has 3 referees out on the court during a game, so it will be tough to say that 1 referee affected the overall outcome of any game. I don't believe the controversy here is what gave the Spurs the championship, or helped Lebron beat the Pistons. However it seriously does affect the stat books and morale of teams. It also hurts the fans, other people betting, and gives major credence now to the arguments of players and coaches that officiating in games is poor.

I believe that the NBA will have the resiliency to bounce back from this situation. I don't see it hurting attendance or fan support either. There's still a ton of talented players and teams to watch, who put on a great show night in and out. We have a crop of bright young stars on the horizon who can take the league to new levels. I'm biased due to my love of basketball, but feel Stern's done alot for the sport since his start. As a former attorney Stern will know how to handle this, as well as market the league as best he can. Commissioner Stern will take a serious look at this situation and take appropriate actions and precautions to make sure NBA officiating is at the top of its game.