Ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy — fresh off a stint in prison — spoke to Bob Simon of 60 Minutes about his role in the biggest scandal to hit the NBA in years.
In the interview, Donaghy repeated his assertion that he never attempted to influence the outcome of games, and that he was able to win approximately 75 percent of his basketball bets by factoring in the individual biases his fellow referees held against certain players. He further claimed that his high rate of success was what drew the mob’s attention, and that he began sharing inside information with them only after they threatened his family.
The mob ties drew the attention of the FBI; their investigation broke up the operation.
The entire interview is available on the CBS web site:
Donaghy’s high media profile isn’t without purpose… his tell-all book, which was dropped by publishers in October… is now available via one of the self-publishing divisions of Amazon.com.
David Stern’s Response
Of course, David Stern wasn’t about to let Donaghy have the media stage all to himself. The commish released a formal statement in response to the 60 Minutes interview, saying:
In an interview aired on ‘60 Minutes,’ Tim Donaghy repeated his allegations against his former colleagues, NBA referees, as well as the NBA. Those allegations have been fully investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the government completed its investigation, finding that the only criminal conduct was that of Mr. Donaghy.
Read David Stern’s statement in its entirety on NBA.com.
Donaghy Speaks, David Stern Responds originally appeared on About.com Basketball on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 15:42:15.
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