MVN: Most Valuable Network

If you live in a hole or haven't heard, the New York Post broke a story on the NBA that involved the FBI, point shaving, and one of the league's officials.  By the end of the day, the official was named and the commissioner released a statement. It's a story straight out of a movie - a story with ties to Philadelphia.

Tim Donaghy, the official in question, was charged with affecting games by protecting the point spreads in which he was officiating. This activity supposedly was going on during the past two seasons. Solid Gold's Dan Lucero examined Nuggets games in which Donaghy worked and found the evidence to be inconclusive. That is contrary to Commissioner Stern's statement which includes this guilty sentence:

"We would like to assure our fans that no amount of effort, time or personnel is being spared to assist in this investigation, to bring to justice an individual who has betrayed the most sacred trust in professional sports, and to take the necessary steps to protect against this ever happening again. We will have more to say at a press conference that will be scheduled for next week." (emphasis added)

Keep in mind that he hasn't been charged with anything yet, but Stern has already weighed in that he needs to be brought to justice. Unfortunately for Stern and the rest of the league, the public trust has already been betrayed. That's because the allegation is as serious as the offense itself.  Officiating has been suspect for quite some time to begin with, so this just confirms what everyone's been thinking all along.

The state of officiating in the NBA is one of preferential treatment. Where did the terms "veteran calls" and "makeup calls" come from? That's right, the NBA. Mark Cuban appeared to be a sore loser when he yelled to David Stern in 2006, "Your league is rigged!" He didn't have evidence like this to back it up, nor were the motives for poor officiating this clearly spelled out.

As for the motives and the ties to Philadelphia, I wouldn't risk my life on information about the mob. This guy had a gambling problem. As gambling problems normally do, that addiction involved the mob.  (UPDATE: According to Celtics17, there is a mention of the Gambino family).  The Philadelphia ties I'm speaking of (besides the Sixers) don't have to do with the mob, but Donaghy himself. He's a graduate of Cardinal O'Hara and Villanova University. He also lived in neighboring Chester County until 2005 when he moved to Florida. It is conceivable to think that the mob activity included local interests.

This isn't the only legal battle that Donaghy's faced. Before he moved to Florida, neighbors were suing him for harrassment. They dropped the case when he left the neighborhood. Even though Donaghy has already resigned, there's no moving away from this one. As officials continue to come under even more scrutiny, none will compare to the public perception that they have to deal with now.

I examined the Sixers games over the past year, and here are the results of ones which were officiated by Donaghy:

4/11 at Boston: Sixers win 104-92. The score was tied going in to the fourth quarter.

3/23 vs. Bobcats: Sixers win 106-97. They jumped out to a 37-23 first quarter lead.

2/23 at Charlotte: Bobcats won 102-87. They jumped out to an 8 point lead after the first 12 minutes and did not lose a quarter.

1/24 at Cleveland: Sixers won 118-115 in double overtime. Andre Iguodala had 34 points and 9 assists.

1/15 vs. Raptors: Raptors won 104-86. They blew the game open with a 32-14 advantage in the 3rd quarter.

12/13 vs. Celtics: Celtics won 101-81. They scored 29 points in the 3rd and 4th quarters to win going away.

12/6 at Chicago: Bulls won 121-94. This was Iverson's last game in a Sixers uniform. The Bulls took a 39-16 lead after the first quarter.

11/15 at Seattle: Sixers won 96-90. Sonics made the game closer with a 27-20 fourth quarter.

Without looking at the spreads, nothing jumps out at me from a basketball standpoint. The Sixers were pretty bad for most of the season. Once they started playing, they stopped being their own worse enemy. I'd be curious to see how the players feel about Donaghy though. I bet they'd be facing a serious fine from the league if they did comment.

We already know how Rasheed Wallace feels about him. The Philadelphia Inquirer's David Aldridge and Marc Narducci reported on the scandal here, which includes a Rasheed Wallace incident. Brian from Depressed Fan hopes it ends with Donaghy. As far as the story goes, we're just at the beginning. Stay tuned...