Excerpts From The Book The NBA Doesn't Want You To Read--By Tim Donaghy

[jidar]

[Dick Bavetta] wanted it to keep going so he could hear his name on TV. He actually paid an American Airlines employee to watch all the games he worked and write down everything the TV commentators said about him. No matter how late the game was over, he'd wake her up for a full report. He loved the attention.

This sounds like bonafide bullshit. If he had said "Once he actually paid someone blah blah blah.." then maybe, but noway do I believe he paid someone to watch every game and transcribe him getting his name said on TV.

That said, I'm sure there are plenty of kernels of truth in there as well.

[MahiMike]

If it can happen in the NBA...

[OnTheWarpath15]

As shitty as the officiating is in the NBA, I'm not sure how someone would find this unbelievable.

Worst officiating of the 4 major sports by a WIDE margin.

[Psyko Tek]

Long time Suns fan
and we have been ****ed soooo many times in the playoffs

if you watched Raja work Kobe you'ld know this is true

GOD I HATE LA

GO SUNS

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Psyko Tek

Long time Suns fan
and we have been ****ed soooo many times in the playoffs

heh



"My favorite Tommy Nunez story is from the 2007 playoffs when the San Antonio Spurs were able to get past the Phoenix Suns in the second round. Of course, what many fans didn't know was that Phoenix had someone working against them behind the scenes. Nunez was the group supervisor for that playoff series, and he definitely had a rooting interest.

Nunez loved the Hispanic community in San Antonio and had a lot of friends there. He had been a referee for 30 years and loved being on the road; in fact, he said that the whole reason he had become a group supervisor was to keep getting out of the house. So Nunez wanted to come back to San Antonio for the conference finals. Plus, he, like many other referees, disliked Suns owner Robert Sarver for the way he treated officials. Both of these things came into play when he prepared the referees for the games in the staff meetings. I remember laughing with him and saying, "You would love to keep coming back here." He was pointing out everything that Phoenix was able to get away with and never once told us to look for anything in regard to San Antonio. Nunez should have a championship ring on his finger."

[DaWolf]

Probably happens in other sports too...

[Stewie]

I've followed NBA basketball a LONG time, but Michael Jordan got away with a ton of shit. That started the trend. It was so egregious that the refs "wouldn't notice" his pivot foot moving from 2' inside the 3-point arc to 1' outside the arc. He was MJ after all.

[HermanHater]

Originally Posted by Stewie

I've followed NBA basketball a LONG time, but Michael Jordan got away with a ton of shit. That started the trend. It was so egregious that the refs "wouldn't notice" his pivot foot moving from 2' inside the 3-point arc to 1' outside the arc. He was MJ after all.

Push off on Utahs Bryon Russell in game 6 of '98 Finals is another example.

[CoMoChief]

Well its no secret that the stars get the calls....that's always been the case.

And I can't remember the last time i saw a traveling violation in the NBA. It never gets called yet I can't tell you how many times I see Lebron take 4 steps when driving to the lane without putting the ball on the floor.

Don't get me even started on foul calls. I know the NBA lets more get away, and they don't nearly call fouls the way they do in college. But there's a foul just about anytime anyone drives in the paint. It just doesn't get called.

I already think the NBA has too many games in their season. That's why I usually don't watch it until around the last week of the reg season and playoffs. I may watch a marquee matchup like a Lebron vs Kobe....Lakers/Celtics...or if Kirk Hinrich is playing on WGN and I happen to flip to that channel when they're playing I will watch that since he's my favorite player.

[wild1]

I wondered, personally, if the refs or the league weren't on the take when the Steelers beat the Seahawks in Detroit for the super bowl. There were so many terrible calls, they all went the same direction, and it was the whole storyline about Bettis getting his ring in his hometown. That game was the first time I seriously wondered about the integrity of the game in the NFL because it was so poorly officiated and so one-sided.