Excerpts From The Book The NBA Doesn't Want You To Read

Click the link above, and reads what disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy has to say. You can certainly question the man's character, but you can also very easily believe everything he writes. 

In both the NHL and the NBA there are star players, premier teams and better TV markets that make the league more money than others. If what Donaghy says is true, and if the NBA does indeed issue memos to their refs in attempts to subtly get messages across as to which teams they'd like to see advance, is it a stretch to think the same thing happens in the NHL? Bettman did work under NBA commish David Stern after all.

A few excerpts are below, but follow the link above for the full thing

In the pregame meeting prior to Game 6, the league office sent down word that certain calls — calls that would have benefitted the Lakers — were being missed by the referees. This was the type of not-so-subtle information that I and other referees were left to interpret. After receiving the dispatch, Bavetta openly talked about the fact that the league wanted a Game 7. 

"If we give the benefit of the calls to the team that's down in the series, nobody's going to complain. The series will be even at three apiece, and then the better team can win Game 7," Bavetta stated. 

As history shows, Sacramento lost Game 6 in a wild come-from-behind thriller that saw the Lakers repeatedly sent to the foul line by the referees. For other NBA referees watching the game on television, it was a shameful performance by Bavetta's crew, one of the most poorly officiated games of all time.

 and one more

If a player of Kobe's stature collides with the likes of Raja Bell, the call will almost always go for Kobe and against Bell. As part of our ongoing training and game preparation, NBA referees regularly receive game-action video tape from the league office. Over the years, I have reviewed many recorded hours of video involving Raja Bell. The footage I analyzed usually illustrated fouls being called against Bell, rarely for him. The message was subtle but clear — call fouls against the star stopper because he's hurting the game.

Just thought this might make for good discussion.