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Monday, July 23, 2007
Stern has some explaining to do
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How do you spin this one Mr. Commissioner?
I can’t wait to hear David Stern explain away Tim Donaghy’s gambling and ties to the mob that the NBA supposedly knew nothing about. I can’t wait to hear him tell us how this one rogue official has not compromised the league’s integrity - believe that if you want but this is incontrovertible evidence to the contrary.
The Commish is supposed to speak soon, possibly later today. And you can bet I’ll be glued to the coverage to hear dude’s explanation - Stern loves to hype up the fact that NBA officials are scrutinized more than any other group of officials on the planet, but that claim is looking like nonsense right about now.
Don’t think I’m forgetting the real culprit here. Is Donaghy a slug for even being mentioned in this mess? Absolutely. He is without doubt qualified to join the lowest of the low for what he’s allegedly done. And keep in mind that we still don’t know the extent of his involvement other than to know that he’s being charged with some of the most egregious crimes against basketball since short shorts were the norm.
But the public and legal scorn he’ll feel over the next however many months and years will surely be sufficient punishment for a man that needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Stern, however, has some serious explaining to do. He’s spent the better part of the time since the infamous brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills crusading to reform the (hip hop) culture of the league and all the while one of the league’s officials has been operating in a world far more sinister.
Having sat through and lived through the brawl that night and the subsequent fallout, not a day has gone by that I didn’t rail against the league’s stance to clean up its tarnished image. I said it that night and I’ll go to my dirt nap saying the same thing, had the officials that night done their jobs (and Tim Donaghy was one of the senior members of the crew that night at the Palace) the brawl would have never taken place.
My former coverage partner in Indianapolis (Mark Montieth) and I discussed it the very next morning over breakfast at the Troy Marriott - I’ll never forget that extended weekend. It was the longest 72 hours of my life. Neither of us could figure out why none of the officials saw fit to send Ron Artest or Ben Wallace to their respective locker rooms after the initial contact that instigated the brawl. Had that simple action taken place, the rest would not have.
In the days after the brawl, when the question of what type of discipline was in store for the game officials that seemed to have botched things that night, the league’s only focus was on the players and their misconduct (which they have paid for dearly).
The NBA’s refusal to hold their officials accountable publicly has always bothered me, and I’m sure many other people who are fans of the league or are involved with it in one way or another.
Anyone who’s been around here for an extended period of time knows how rough I’ve been on the league’s game officials, rightly or wrongly in some instances. But my venom, usually aimed at the bottom third of the league’s flimsy officiating ranks, isn’t potent enough to accommodate charges such as the ones that Donaghy and the league is facing now.
The credibility hit here is one that won’t be recovered from anytime soon. And quite frankly, it should not be. The same reforms that Stern has championed in the player ranks since the brawl (and we’re talking everything from the player code of conduct, the fan code of conduct, the dress code and the rule allowing officials to dish out technical fouls if they even think players or coaches are thinking of disrespecting them) need to be cultivated in some form for the officials.
They need to have their ranks fleeced and flushed out for the bad element that surely exists. From all I’ve read over the weekend, Donaghy didn’t get involved in his mess in the last year. He’s been officiating NBA games for 13 years and from all accounts, has been involved in gambling just as long. Everything he’s done with stripes on over the past 13 years needs to be scrutinized. Because we can never be sure about the integrity of his actions now that we’ve learned about the activities he’s been involved in with organized crime.
This is also why I want to know what Stern knew about Donaghy’s actions and if the league knowingly allowed him to continue officiating games this past season while the FBI investigation was ongoing - and if that’s the case, which no one has confirmed, the league has some serious explaining to do for the teams, coaches and players affected by Donaghy’s foolishness. If they didn’t know anything about Donaghy’s actions, I expect heads to roll anyway.
The worst part is this scandal has forced me to shove back Part II of my summer league wrap up, which will be here in two days. But as much as I’d love to talk about just basketball right now, it would be irresponsible for us to sit around and ignore this mess even if we are still waiting on the details and an explanation from the most powerful commissioner in all of sports.
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