Let me get this straight: the NBA won't let a team land in Las Vegas because of the gambling that would ensue...but that doesn't seem to stop refs getting in trouble for gambling on their own games.
Today's revelation that one NBA referee allegedly bet on games he was officiating doesn't surprise me a bit. Coaches/managers have bet on games (See: Pete Rose). So have players -- even my own Northwestern Wildcats. So why not refs?
(As an aside, I'd be willing to bet that the calls made by Tim Donaghy, the ref in question, were still 1,000 times better than Dick Bavetta's)
Athletes, coaches and refs are people, and (sometimes) when they see the opportunity to make some benjamins, they go for it. If that means point shaving, fine. If that means cheating at blackjack, fine. And if that means fixing calls to make a few bucks, fine.
We don't know if Donaghy is guilty of the allegations, nor do we know if he did in fact fix games. If he did, the NBA should fire him immediately and not look back, as I'm sure David Stern will.
The question, then, isn't what to do about Donaghy. The shot clock's already expired on that one. We must decide how to fix this problem in the future.
Sadly, we can't.
You can't police every ref, player, coach or owner off the court. Hell, you can't even always keep track of what they're doing on the court - just ask Mark Cuban (or anyone who was shoved by MJ as the refs looked away).
The only thing the NBA can do is to try to keep its officials well-trained and full of integrity with ethics seminars and the like. Hopefully the cheaters will learn their ways.
But don't bet on it.
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