NBA denies Donaghy claims

Manipulation of games alleged

LOS ANGELES - When Phil Jackson raised the specter of biased officiating following Game 2, his comments were viewed largely as gamesmanship as much as legitimate complaint. NBA executives with the power to fine him looked the other way.

When convicted felon and former NBA referee Tim Donaghy implicated other officials in game manipulation in a court filing yesterday in Brooklyn, N.Y., the league swiftly accused Donaghy of being a desperate man looking for a lighter sentence.

"All I can say is that he's looking for anything that will somehow shorten the sentence," said NBA commissioner David Stern. "And it's not going to happen.

"He turned on basically all of his colleagues in an attempt to demonstrate that he is not the only one who engaged in criminal activity. The US Attorney's office, the FBI, have fully investigated it, and Mr. Donaghy is the only one who is guilty of a crime. And he will be sentenced for that crime regardless of the desperate attempts to implicate as many people as he can."

In a letter to the court, Donaghy's attorney detailed how the former referee had cooperated with investigators and relayed key information Donaghy provided, including "various examples of improper interactions and relationships between referees and other league employees, such as players, coaches or management" that led to attempts to influence game results.

Donaghy alleged that certain referees were "company men" who acted in the best business interests of the NBA - specifically, extending popular and profitable series. He claimed manipulation of games could be very subtle.

According to the letter, "Tim explained that league officials would tell referees they should withhold calling technical fouls on certain star players because doing so hurt ticket sales and television ratings . . . If the NBA wanted a team to succeed, league officials would inform referees that opposing players were getting away with violations. Referees then would call fouls on certain players, frequently resulting in victory for the opposing team."

As he prepared to officiate Game 3 between the Lakers and Celtics last night at Staples Center, referee Joe Crawford had only two comments on the latest developments, calling Donaghy "a liar" and a "piece of [expletive]."

Donaghy's letter described events in a 2005 playoff series - apparently between the Mavericks and Rockets - when referees were told to enforce screening rules more strictly against a Houston player. The Mavericks came back to win the series, and the court filing asserted that the NBA profited from a longer series.

Donaghy also told investigators that referees were instructed to extend a 2002 playoff series between the Lakers and Kings to seven games and did so by making calls in favor of Los Angeles, which came back to win. The series is remembered for controversial calls in Game 6, in which Sacramento's Scot Pollard and Vlade Divac fouled out.

"If it was fixed, we have no chance," said Pollard, now a Celtic. "You can't go down that road. There is no way that it has been kept a secret if it was. And I don't want to find out that it was.

"I don't want those refs that he accused to say, 'Oh yeah,' and they aren't going to. But there is no way to prove that he's right, and how do you trust his credibility anyway?

"If it was proven that it was, that would hurt. That would hurt the league, it would hurt my feelings, it would hurt everybody. That's ugly. You don't want that to be true. I would much rather live with human error than human interference."

Derek Fisher, who competed for the Lakers in 2002, was not all that interested in discussing the matter.

"My championship ring is in the safety deposit box," said Fisher. "They can take it back if they want."

The charges could not have come at a worse time for the NBA, taking attention away from the Lakers-Celtics championship series. In fact, the matchup was such a coup for the league that conspiracy theories have been floated - some serious, some tongue-in-cheek - that the NBA worked its magic to ensure that the historic rivalry resumed.

Last night, it was Stern who raised his eyebrows at the timing of the letter.

"[The lawyer] picks his spots, figures the NBA Finals, game in LA, he'll file it," said Stern. "Then all you guys will come running in breathlessly to see whether there's something new that the NBA should respond to from a convicted felon who really violated probably the most sacred trust in sports."

When the possibility of a congressional investigation was raised, Stern said NBA representatives had already met with members of Congress and will continue to do so.

"We welcome scrutiny here," said Stern. "We're in the process of formulating our own assuredness, if we possibly can, that nothing like Donaghy will happen again. But if it does, it won't be because we fell short in our efforts to make sure it didn't."

"The NBA remains vigilant in protecting the integrity of our game and has fully cooperated with the government at every stage of its investigation," said Richard Buchanan, NBA vice president and general counsel. "The only criminal activity uncovered is Mr. Donaghy's."

And what about Jackson? Like many NBA coaches, he raises questions about the fairness of officiating in hopes of changing his team's fortunes in the next game.

When asked about the Donaghy accusation that referees were manipulating the outcome of games for the sake of ratings, ticket sales, and other ancillary concerns, Jackson said, "Only us basketball coaches think that."