Personal Foul
Those who would seek to discredit Tim Donaghy for failing to tell the absolute truth in his recent talk with 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon, about what was involved with his wagering on NBA games, are off-base.
If you’re someone who has considerable personal experience with both basketball and the world of sports wagering then you know full well that what this former NBA official had to say in this interview is highly accurate and an authentic telling of the facts.
NBA officials are, first and foremost, human beings … and, human beings the world over have inherent biases which they must live with on a daily basis.
What Tim Donaghy did, as a NBA official, he should not have done … but, the way that David Stern has chosen to conduct himself in this situation is also reprehensible and has failed to address adequately the problem which the league has had with the quality [i.e. consistency] of its officiating for a good number years.
In every basketball game there are, in fact, 3 teams on the court.
1. The home team.
2. The away team.
3. The supposedly “neutral” team, assigned to officiate the contest.
Unfortunately and all too often it’s a member[s] of the 3rd team who fails to perform his/her job properly and, thereby, decides the outcome of a specific game in favour of either Team 1 or Team 2.
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Tags: 60 Minutes, Bob Simon, David Stern, Mike Mathis, Tim Donaghy, TrueHoop