Published or not Donaghy's book slam dunks NBA
By: Turner Sports Desk
Why is a cancelled book getting so much attention? I’ve always wondered about the secret goings on with regard
to NBA referees and how they call games. I’ve often wondered who the real stars
are if the refs actually called fair and consistent games. Tim Donaghy’s tell
all book entitled
"Blowing
the Whistle: The Culture of Fraud in the NBA" takes you to a place NBA Commissioner David
Stern did not want any fan to go.
The first thing defenders of the status quo are going to say is to consider the source. Tim Donaghy was caught
cheating and he disgraced the game so how much can you trust what he says? The 2000
pound gorilla in the room is the
fact that we have precedence from MLB. Jose Canseco proved that liars and cheats aren't lying about everything. Not to mention the fact that our own legal system uses the testimony of killers, liars and cheaters to convict other killers, liars and cheaters everyday.
The fact that NBA Commissioner David Stern did everything in
his power to end this investigation with just Donaghy was proof positive to me
that this story had legs. Stern could have used the Donaghy problem as an
opportunity to clean house, expose the problems and correct things but he the easy route. Now
the media is going to make this an issue until the NBA either investigates
again or Congress threatens to do it for them.
So what does this mean for the casual
basketball fan? Well that depends. If your team is in a close game and they
lose due to a questionable call what will be the first thing that comes to your
mind now knowing what Donaghy has exposed? Another important question I have is
who would the real stars be in the NBA if the refs called unbiased and even
games? For all we know a guy buried on a bench somewhere might be the next
superstar if the refs did not have a preset agenda.
Perhaps the NBA might have
some much needed parity if certain players/teams did not get vast majority of the breaks. No
matter how you slice it the NBA cannot win so the best thing to do is the exact
opposite of what baseball did by trying to cover it up. Furthermore, congress has shown an interest in calling both athletes and commissioners on the carpet to provide the American people an explanation of what is happening in their respective sport. The one thing you can be certain of in sports just like everything else is referees have egos, quirks and they allow these things to cloud their judgement.
Excerpts from the book for your review (
click
here)