Tim Donaghy: “100% of referees gamble”

Former disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy believes all current NBA officials engage in sports gambling.

Tim Donaghy resigned as an NBA referee in 2007 amid an FBI investigation for allegations that he bet on and affected the point spread of games he officiated. Then-commissioner David Stern labeled Donaghy a “rogue official” and maintained that their was no larger scandal, and that the NBA did not have a league-wide gambling problem.

On Wednesday afternoon, Donaghy appeared on Colin Cowherd’s national radio program, “The Herd”, to discuss the recent officiating mistakes in Game 2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs series, where the NBA acknowledged five missed calls in the final ten seconds.

As the interview progressed, Cowherd asked his guest, “What percentage of refs gamble?” with Donaghy responding without a moment’s hesitation, “100 percent”.

Donaghy would not confirm that any current NBA officials bet on the games that they work, but it is still extremely disconcerting to hear how confident Donaghy was in asserting these supposedly objective rule enforcers engage in such a questionable and controversial activity.

Even more troubling is the fact Donaghy was comfortable making the claim that every NBA referee engages in sports gambling, not just one or two. While these officials may enter the realm of gambling with sincere intentions not to “fix” any games in which the whistle is in their hands, it is a slippery slope.

Donaghy then doubled down and revealed that “stars” do receive preferential treatment from officials, admitting if Micheal Jordan missed a shot, he must have been fouled.

With the recently flurry of late-game officiating mistakes and Donaghy’s recent “truth-bombs”, the officiating for the rest of the NBA Playoffs will certainly be under a microscope.

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