Official Business

By Gabriel Baumgaertner

 As Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce hoisted the NBA Finals MVP Trophy in a confetti-showered TD Banknorth Garden and teammate Kevin Garnett nonsensically rejoiced to ABC sideline reporter Michelle Tafoya, NBA Commissioner David Stern strolled along the court congratulating Boston Celtics’ personnel on their championship and a great end of the season.  Stern was eloquent and apparently cheerful watching the Celtics win their first championship since the likes of Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert “The Chief” Parish, but the final buzzer on the Celtics’ 39-point victory over the Lakers was hardly the end to this NBA season.

Stern has been deflecting pointed questions by the media since June 11^th (then Game 3 of the Finals) concerning ex-NBA referee and now convicted felon Tim Donaghy and his recent allegations that several NBA playoff games were fixed.  Stern’s responses were hardly stern, merely claiming that Donaghy is a desperate felon merely trying to reduce his upcoming sentence.  The response came as a surprise to many, why would Stern act so blasé in the face of such accusations? The NBA’s reputation will suffer not only if Donaghy’s allegations are found to be truthful, but if Stern’s response is indeed accurate.

For several years, the NBA has been constantly been trying to improve its image and shed itself of the “thug” image that has hounded it for so long.  While many argue that people scrutinize the legal issues in the NBA more because of its overwhelming African American population, this issue is race-blind and potentially devastating to the league’s credibility.  Stern has spent much of his tenure attempting to clean up the NBA’s image.  In 2005 Stern issued a dress code that mandated players wear “business attire” quickly ending post-game dress do-rags, throwback jerseys and jeans.  The dress code was initially criticized and seen as reactionary to events such as the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case and the Indiana Pacers-Detroit Pistons brawl, but eventually gave the NBA a more clean cut look.  The NBA has been plagued by such events as allegations against its best player (Bryant), the “Jail Blazers” of the early 2000s, Jayson Williams’ accidental killing of his chauffeur and several documented cases of spousal abuse (Jason Kidd), lack of paid child support (Tyrone Nesby, Stanley Roberts) and countless marijuana possession charges and DUIs.  For once, however, the players are not to blame, rather those in charge.  It appears that Stern was so worried about the cleanliness and attitudes of the NBA players that he missed the event that could permanently damage his reputation as an NBA commissioner.

The NBA is no stranger to conspiracy theories (see 1985 NBA Draft Lottery and 2008 Pau Gasol trade), but Donaghy’s claims are the first that could easily ruin the NBA.  Few fans were not scratching their heads during the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings.  27 free throws in one quarter? How could one not be bewildered? The Lakers went on to win the game, force a game 7, and eventually win their third championship in as many years.  The Kings, however, barely missed a chance at the finals (again), and despite a great regular season in 2003, never made the NBA Finals.  The Kings from 2000-2004 were some of the best basketball teams never to play in the NBA Finals, and if Donaghy’s allegations have any truth, it will be for a beyond shameful reason.  Former Kings players Scot Pollard and Doug Christie expressed their frustrations when asked about Donaghy.

“My first thought was, I knew it,” Pollard stated. “I'm not going to say there was a conspiracy. I just think something wasn't right. It was unfair. We didn't have a chance to win that game.”

I would definitely say that there was something going on beyond a poorly officiated game," Christie told The Sporting News. "Look at the statistics. This week, everyone made a big deal out of the Lakers shooting 10 free throws to the Celtics 38 (in Game 2). But in this game, you're talking about a team shooting 27 free throws in the closing quarter of a decisive game that would put out the defending champs."

Pollard and Christie’s comments must be approached objectively, and certainly not be taken as absolute truth.  Scot Pollard fouling out should not shoot off the warning signals for a fixed game.  2002 was the height of the “Hack-A-Shaq” strategy, and O’Neal shot 10 of the 27 Laker free throws in that fourth quarter.  Christie is another player whose quotes should be taken with pause.  It is no secret Doug Christie was not a Laker fan during the early 2000s (let us not forget the tunnel fight with former Laker Rick Fox), but if the Kings win that game as he claims they should have, he is not remembered for an embarrassing airball (though not as bad as Peja Stojokavic’s famous 3 point attempt at the end of the fourth quarter) and several missed free throws that cost the Kings Game 7 and consequently, the series.  Though it was certainly unfortunate to see a team of that caliber denied a chance to play in the NBA Finals, their fourth quarter and overtime performances in that seventh game rank highly in all-time NBA Playoff blunders.

The other point that has failed to garner any attention is that while Donaghy may be a felon, he certainly is not stupid.  Donaghy bet on games as an official and still scored highly on the NBA’s exams for officals’ performance, and was a well-respected NBA official until his gambling problems reached the media.  Donaghy obviously knows the game well and is probably quite knowledgeable of games that were maybe botched by officials.  Therefore, if Donaghy is in fact desperately seeking an out for a reduced sentence, he is intelligent enough to pick the game that will rouse controversy among the masses.  Because of the fair-weather, conspiracy-thirsty fan, however, the burden of proof now lies on the NBA to establish that these games were indeed not fixed.  When and if the NBA is able to prove Donaghy wrong, that should merely be the first step in a giant revamping of inspection of its officials and a far closer look at their handling of the league’s games.

The NBA recently appointed Army Major General Ronald L. Johnson as the senior vice president of referee operations, the first step in an attempt at clearing the NBA once and for all of this Donaghy fiasco.  Though free agency and the recent NBA Draft may provide distractions from this matter, Army Major General Ronald L. Johnson is far from the solution of this problem.  If Commissioner Stern was in fact correct when he said that Donaghy is merely making a plea, the NBA has obviously done something to merit such a verbose threat.  Background checks, constant oversight and harsh penalties are the beginning steps of cleaning up the officiating, and for one casual NBA fan, Commissioner David Stern has a very long road before the NBA is “clean”.