A former referee in the National Basketball Association has come out and publicly declared that this season’s NBA Finals were fixed for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to win. The NBA has a long and sordid history of fixed games and point shaving and former disgraced referee Tim Donaghy says that it was self evident to him that the fix was in for LeBron and the Cavs.
Donaghy, who was fired as an NBA referee for point shaving and fixing games while he refereed, made a prediction last Friday that, according to who he saw refereeing in Game 7, that the Cavs were a sure bet. Donaghy had spent 11 moths in prison for his point shaving schemes but his prediction seems to bear serious weight as the series was fraught with player suspensions that tipped the balance as well as more than a few foul calls that just didn’t smell right to many analysts and fans.
Donaghy said, “Here’s the bottom line: When Draymond Green kicks Steven Adams in the nuts like a full karate chop and doesn’t get suspended, it’s because the Warriors are down 3-1 and they needed him on the floor. Then he gets in a little altercation with LeBron. He grazes him and he gets suspended.”
Since the incident between Green and James happened in game 5, Cleveland went on to win two games in a row from a team that is, arguably, the greatest NBA team of all time. Many NBA fans found it jaw dropping unlikely that the Warriors would drop two straight including Donaghy.
Then came Game 6 in which the Warriors’ Steph Curry fouls out of the game. Maybe the best player in the league, Curry had not fouled out of a game all season. When he and the Warriors head coach berated the referees, Curry was suspended and both were fined by the league for being publicly critical of the referees.
Even Curry’s wife tweeted that she believed that the Finals were fixed for either money or ratings.
Donaghy went on to explain how refs were sequestered in hotel rooms and forced to watch game film so that certain things against certain players will be called. He believes it happened with Curry. Calls were being made against Curry despite that fact that James was nearly running him down. James, he said, did run Curry down and Curry ended up with a foul and being thrown out of the game. He, and many others, have pointed out many other instances in the series where things just didn’t seem right with the referees and with the proper enforcing of the rules.
So, why would the NBA fix games? Fix the championship series?
“If the networks are making $15 million for every Game 6 or 7, how much do you think they are going to bid when those negotiations come back around?”
PHOTO CREDITS: USA Today