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Disgraced NBA official, Tim Donaghy, awaits sentencing for his part in taking money from gamblers and betting on NBA games himself. Apparently, he’s bound and determined not to go down alone. Donaghy’s latest allegations included unnamed officials who, per a league official mandate, rigged a 2002 NBA Playoff series to go 7 games so that the series would generate additional revenue.

Donaghy claims that the NBA encouraged referees to call fouls on sub-star players, to manipulate the outcomes of certain games and not to call technical fouls on “star players”. (Hmmm, I hearken back to Allen Iverson in the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals….remember all the “no calls”?)

The obvious series in 2002 was the Lakers / Kings series that ended up going 7 games on a controversial 4^th quarter in game 6 where the Lakers went to the free throw line 27 times late in the game vs. the 9 times for the Kings.

The game was so lopsided and, in many opinions, officiated so poorly that it prompted consumer advocate, Ralph Nader, to write a letter to David Stern with his concerns of “game fixing” and called for a league investigation.

Phil Jackson, after game 3 last night, was asked about the series, in which he was the Lakers coach, and stated, “There’s a lot of things going on in these game and they’re suspicious”.

Look, I don’t know who to believe in this situation. Donaghy, on one hand, is looking for anything to grasp a hold of so that he can shorten his sentence in prison. He’s a convicted liar and doesn’t have credibility at this point. On the other hand, how long have we all screamed that something just “wasn’t right” about the NBA and it’s officiating? NBA stars that seem to either get the phantom call or don’t have calls go against them. How about Joey Crawford, last year, throwing out Tim Duncan for laughing? Had it not been for complete outrage by the media and fans, questioning the credibility of the league, NOTHING would have happened to Crawford. I look at David Stern, who I’ve never truly cared for (a honest divulgence of bias) smiling that sheepishly evil smile, looking squarely in the camera and stating that there is no dishonesty in his league…then comes Donaghy.

I’ve always been a believer in the old adage, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”. It may not be as dastardly as we all perceive but there’s certainly something going on in the NBA. When you purchase your ticket, enter the arena, watch the game unfold in front of you, question things in your mind…..do you feel that those on the floor are being honest with you in every sense of the word?

David Stern, take notice, perception becomes reality and the reality is, you’re league appears to be taking money under false pretenses thus, look for the government to come knocking at your door yet again.