Ex-NBA ref Donaghy's book canceled by publisher

[juddling]

For various reasons, disgraced NBA ref Tim Donaghy’s tell-all book about his antics in the League has been canceled by the book’s publisher. “Blowing the Whistle: The Culture of Fraud in the NBA” was supposed to drop later this month, covering Donaghy’s experience in the NBA and the events leading up to his conviction on federal wire fraud charges.

 

The official cancellation didn’t hit though until some explosive excerpts were released to some media outlets including Deadspin.com. The clips Deadspin posted from Donaghy’s book are jaw-dropping. We’re not taking sides here, we’re just passing some of them along …

 

Donaghy on “star treatment” for certain players:

 

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.”

 

Similarly, when games got physically rough, we would huddle up and agree to tighten the game up. So we started calling fouls on guys who didn’t really matter-”ticky-tack” or “touch” fouls where one player just touched another but didn’t really impede his progress. Under regular circumstances these wouldn’t be fouls, but after a skirmish we wanted to regain control. We would never call these types of fouls on superstars, just on the average players who didn’t have star status. It was important to keep the stars on the floor.

 

Donaghy on how easily refs are influenced by “favorite” players:

 

Allen Iverson provides a good example of a player who generated strong reaction, both positive and negative, within the corps of NBA referees. For instance, veteran referee Steve Javie hated Allen Iverson and was loathe [sic] to give him a favorable call. If Javie was on the court when Iverson was playing, I would always bet on the other team to win or at least cover the spread. No matter how many times Iverson hit the floor, he rarely saw the foul line. By contrast, referee Joe Crawford had a grandson who idolized Iverson. I once saw Crawford bring the boy out of the stands and onto the floor during warm-ups to meet the superstar. Iverson and Crawford’s grandson were standing there, shaking hands, smiling, talking about all kinds of things. If Joe Crawford was on the court, I was pretty sure Iverson’s team would win or at least cover the spread.

 

Donaghy on Dick Bavetta:

 

Two weeks before the 2003–04 season ended, Bavetta and I were assigned to officiate a game in Oakland. That afternoon before the tip-off, we were discussing an upcoming game on our schedule. It was the last regular-season game we were scheduled to work, pitting Denver against San Antonio. Denver had lost a game a few weeks prior because of a mistake made by the referees, a loss that could be the difference between them making or missing the playoffs. Bavetta told me Denver needed the win and that it would look bad for the staff and the league if the Nuggets missed the playoffs by one game. There were still a few games left on the schedule before the end of the season, and the standings could potentially change. But on that day in Oakland, Bavetta looked at me and casually stated, “Denver will win if they need the game. That’s why I’m on it.”

 

I was thinking, How is Denver going to win on the road in San Antonio? At the time, the Spurs were arguably the best team in the league. Bavetta answered my question before it was asked.

 

“Duncan will be on the bench with three fouls within the first five minutes of the game,” he calmly stated.

 

Bavetta went on to inform me that it wasn’t the first time the NBA assigned him to a game for a specific purpose. He cited examples, including the 1993 playoff series when he put New Jersey guard Drazen Petrovic on the bench with quick fouls to help Cleveland beat the Nets. He also spoke openly about the 2002 Los Angeles–Sacramento series and called himself the NBA’s “go-to guy.”

 

Link

 

also more excerpts over here at Deadspin

 

Interesting reading.....not sure whether to believe it or not but with some of the crazy refereeing in the NBA over the last few years it wouldn't surprise me one bit.

 

 

[ChiSox_Sonix]

I believe every word of it. The NBA is dirty. The Sacto-LA series in 2002 confirmed that for me. I have no doubt in my mind.

[Jenksismyhero]

Yeah, people are going to spit on this like the spit on Jose Conseco. 5 years later, who's the only one that was right?

 

This guy has nothing to hide anymore. And there's really no reason for him to lie about it. People already hate him, and he's already disgraced the NBA on his own. No need to add fuel to the fire.

[Soxbadger]

The Blazers-Lakers game is when I stopped caring about basketball.

 

 

[Chisoxfn]

I believe every word of it. The NBA is dirty. The Sacto-LA series in 2002 confirmed that for me. I have no doubt in my mind.

The one thing which has really pissed me off about the NBA is the way the refs work. It is so blatantly the worst referred sport around and the calls are just so so subjective.

 

I'm not shocked at all by the comments. And I hope the NBA gets taken to town and has to be held accountable for these actions. I would argue the NBA at times is more fixed than Boxing for most of the last 20 years.

[JuiceCruz16]

The one thing which has really pissed me off about the NBA is the way the refs work. It is so blatantly the worst referred sport around and the calls are just so so subjective.

 

I'm not shocked at all by the comments. And I hope the NBA gets taken to town and has to be held accountable for these actions. I would argue the NBA at times is more fixed than Boxing for most of the last 20 years.

It is also BY FAR the most difficult game to ref. I have worked all three and it is not even close!! Football and baseball do not have constant bang bang calls, I do not see a fix aspect at all. Holding/non holding inconsistencies in the NFL, or floating strike zones in MLB, is every bit as common. Hell, look at all the blown calls this playoff season in the MLB, and baseball has a fraction of bang bang calls that basketball has. The SEC refs getting hit for calls the past two weeks in football as well, and football has far fewer judgement split decision chances then hoops too. NBA games have constant instances like those on violations or fouls . As for the stars getting more calls, that happens in every league all the way down to high school, it is not always an intentional thing, but reputation and status do effect those making the calls in every game across the board, even if it is a subconscience thing.

[LittleHurt05]

The one thing which has really pissed me off about the NBA is the way the refs work. It is so blatantly the worst referred sport around and the calls are just so so subjective.

 

I'm not shocked at all by the comments. And I hope the NBA gets taken to town and has to be held accountable for these actions. I would argue the NBA at times is more fixed than Boxing for most of the last 20 years.

 

Does Champ Bailey get away with pass intereference more than a Zackary Bowman because of who he is?? No

 

Does Cliff Lee get a much bigger strike zone than Scott Eyre? No

 

Does Kobe Bryant draw way more fouls than Jannero Pargo because of who he is? You best believe it, and the NBA doesn't really hide that fact either.

[LittleHurt05]

The Blazers-Lakers game is when I stopped caring about basketball.

 

The Mavericks-Heat series ruined it for me. The last four games just consisted of Dwayne Wade driving towards the basket and throwing himself at a defender to draw a foul. I dont think he tried to make baskets most of the time.

[Chisoxfn]

It is also BY FAR the most difficult game to ref. I have worked all three and it is not even close!! Football and baseball do not have constant bang bang calls, I do not see a fix aspect at all. Holding/non holding inconsistencies in the NFL, or floating strike zones in MLB, is every bit as common. Hell, look at all the blown calls this playoff season in the MLB, and baseball has a fraction of bang bang calls that basketball has. The SEC refs getting hit for calls the past two weeks in football as well, and football has far fewer judgement split decision chances then hoops too. NBA games have constant instances like those on violations or fouls . As for the stars getting more calls, that happens in every league all the way down to high school, it is not always an intentional thing, but reputation and status do effect those making the calls in every game across the board, even if it is a subconscience thing.

The strike-zone argument is pretty rare. Very rarely do I see one team get a far bigger or smaller strike-zone as the other team so I would argue that while strike zones vary from ump to ump they rarely vary from team to team.

 

And while people would point out the 90's Braves squad where there pitchers got the benefit of the doubt and what most perceived as bigger strike zones, I would argue that when you throw strikes constantly and have your pitchers frame the ball well it is much easier to get strikes called. And it works both ways.

 

Whenever a pitcher in baseball throws strikes, they tend to get more favorable calls. However, on the flip-side, if you are all over the place in a game, typically you don't get the borderline pitch because the ump is so used to everything being a ball. I almost consider it momentum.

 

I personally believe this is different from the NBA and I would agree with you that the NFL is the closet to the NBA, but I haven't seen the blatant fixes in long-playoff series as I have in the NFL. And of course the NFL is just one game per playoff series so that makes it easier to get away with so-called fixes, I'm sure.

 

But when you see 7 game series blatantly f'd up and called to the pure benefit of a team constantly it makes you wonder.

[JuiceCruz16]

Does Champ Bailey get away with pass intereference more than a Zackary Bowman because of who he is?? No

 

Does Cliff Lee get a much bigger strike zone than Scott Eyre? No

 

Does Kobe Bryant draw way more fouls than Jannero Pargo because of who he is? You best believe it, and the NBA doesn't really hide that fact either.

Hell yes, Champ Bailey does! and Brady gets more roughing calls then Josh Johnson does.

 

Hell yes, Lee gets corners more! and George Brett or Wade Boggs got the benifit of close pitches called balls where Mario Mendoza would be rung up consistently on those same pitches.

Edited October 30, 2009 by JuiceCruz16

[EvilMonkey]

I always love when the ref at halfcourt makes a foul on someone under the basket, when there are maybe 5 guys between the ref and where the foul supposedly occured, while the baseline ref looking right at the play does nothing. I wonder if there is anythng in there on the phanotm call on Pippen during the Bulls series the year after Jordan?

[danman31]

The one thing which has really pissed me off about the NBA is the way the refs work. It is so blatantly the worst referred sport around and the calls are just so so subjective.

You probably weren't considering soccer, but I think it's much worse than basketball.

[WilliamTell]

You probably weren't considering soccer, but I think it's much worse than basketball.

 

I only watch when the USA playing, and I can't even see there is corruption in officiating.

 

As for this book, I really want to read it.

[balfanman]

I have no idea why I even started to read this thread as I quit on the NBA years ago for this very reason. I go back to the Boerwinkle, Sloan, Love, Walker, Van Lier days. Basketbal was more fun for me then. I watched the Jordan era championships somewhat, but that just reinforced what I already knew. The Bulls for example would completely dominate a team like the Knicks in the playoffs, but the NBA made sure that the series went to 6 or 7 games for revenue and I just hated it. You can never be sure if the team that wins in the NBA is the best team on any given night, or if it is just the team that the league wanted to win.

I have not gone back and checked for pure numbers as I'm not necessarily a stat guy, but I believe for years (and I'm sure that this still goes on) the road team would get called for fouls much more often then the home team. You had to be a pretty bad team to get called for more fouls at home than your visitor. If that doesn't tell you that they are catering to the home crowd, and it is not really a "fair fight", I don't know what would.

[SoxFan562004]

There was a series involving the Kings a few years back that was absolutely absurd.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

There was a series involving the Kings a few years back that was absolutely absurd.

 

2002 Conference Finals with the Lakers. Beyond ridiculous. It was that series that essentially killed the NBA for me.

[Kyyle23]

There was a series involving the Kings a few years back that was absolutely absurd.

 

The worst part about it was how most of the things that happened were so blatant. The ref watched Kobe Bryant break Bibbys nose/face on the inbounds play, he was literally staring right at the both of them when Kobe gave Bibby the forearm shiver.

 

I felt it before during the series, but right after that moment it was confirmed that the fix was in.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

bumped for the finish of tonight's Bulls game

[fathom]

bumped for the finish of tonight's Bulls game

 

No offense, but this is why the Donaghy book stuff pisses me off. Now, everyone's going to think every game is fixed. If the refs were going to fix a game, they would sure as hell make sure it doesn't come down to the final 0.3 seconds of the game.

[Middle Buffalo]

Does Champ Bailey get away with pass intereference more than a Zackary Bowman because of who he is?? No

 

Does Cliff Lee get a much bigger strike zone than Scott Eyre? No

In MLB, Glavine and Maddux had a completely different strike zone than most other pitchers. The reason? Both guys could consistently pound the spot where the catcher placed his glove. If that was 6 inches off the plate, so be it.

 

In the NFL, guys like Michael Irvin got away with pushing off a DB because they were known as "physical" receivers.

 

Star treatment happens in all the sports.

 

That said, the NBA sucks. I find it almost impossible to watch a regular season game anymore. I don't know why they don't call travelling when guys take three steps, or why point guards can carry the ball the way they do. I think it's part of the reason we have trouble in international play (in addition to the rest of the world improving). In international play, we don't get away with all the things NBA players take for granted.

[HuskyCaucasian]

I don't know why they don't call travelling when guys take three steps, or why point guards can carry the ball the way they do.

Can I get a rule clarification? When I was in Jr high, I was taught you can only take two steps when you are driving for a layup. However, I see NBA Players all the time grab the ball on the go, take two steps, then pass it off. I have ALWAYS thought that is traveling if you aren't shooting the ball. Am I wrong?

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

No offense, but this is why the Donaghy book stuff pisses me off. Now, everyone's going to think every game is fixed. If the refs were going to fix a game, they would sure as hell make sure it doesn't come down to the final 0.3 seconds of the game.

Why does the book piss you off? The league itself should piss you off for letting this s*** go on. That's like getting mad at Canseco instead of Selig.

 

Last night's game was a perfect example of the same inexcusable officiating you see so often in the NBA. The fans *should* b**** about these things and call the fix, even if there is no fix. That's called public pressure, and the league needs more of it because they're clearly not policing themselves very well as it stands. The fact that the league came out last year in support of the no-call flagrant foul by Rondo on Miller instead of admitting their mistakes like men just shows how little accountability there is.

[lostfan]

Why does the book piss you off? The league itself should piss you off for letting this s*** go on. That's like getting mad at Canseco instead of Selig.

 

Last night's game was a perfect example of the same inexcusable officiating you see so often in the NBA. The fans *should* b**** about these things and call the fix, even if there is no fix. That's called public pressure, and the league needs more of it because they're clearly not policing themselves very well as it stands. The fact that the league came out last year in support of the no-call flagrant foul by Rondo on Miller instead of admitting their mistakes like men just shows how little accountability there is.

The refs did let Miller and Noah both knock Rondo's ass to the ground the next game, hard, with no call. It was all the better that Rondo pretended to be hurt and looked like a little b****

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

The refs did let Miller and Noah both knock Rondo's ass to the ground the next game, hard, with no call. It was all the better that Rondo pretended to be hurt and looked like a little b****

Rondo is a little b****.

 

But anyway, the make-up calls still piss me off. Just call the game fairly and then admit it when you f*** up and try to do better next time. It's really not that hard. Work to create a culture of accuracy as opposed to one where some calls are overlooked, others are made for no reason, etc. There's so much contact in the game that you're not going to get everything right, but at least make the major calls. Like Melo's trip up of Deng last night RIGHT IN FRONT of the officials. Bulls***.

[balfanman]

Rondo is a little b****.

 

But anyway, the make-up calls still piss me off. Just call the game fairly and then admit it when you f*** up and try to do better next time. It's really not that hard. Work to create a culture of accuracy as opposed to one where some calls are overlooked, others are made for no reason, etc. There's so much contact in the game that you're not going to get everything right, but at least make the major calls. Like Melo's trip up of Deng last night RIGHT IN FRONT of the officials. Bulls***.

 

This is another thing that I just do not like in basketball today, all of the contact. You have to be a muscle bound thug to even have a chance in todays game. I'm not an athelete by any means but I did play a little basketbal in grade school and jr. high, and was good friends with several of our high school team members. That was back in the 60's and early 70's when basketball players were thin and lanky for the most part. I seem to remember getting called for fouls if you barely touched the guy you were gaurding.