Crime Beat: NBA's Crooked Ref Won't Stop Blowing Whistle, Cites Iverson Fix

By Ward Harkavy, Fri., Dec. 4 2009 @ 9:00AM

Categories: Crime, Featured, Gaming, Sports, The Mafia

Just days before yet another replay of its major betting scandal, NBA officials — the league's executives, not the refs — must be running like mad up and down the hallways of their Fifth Avenue headquarters.

Crooked ref Tim Donaghy has revealed what he says was a concerted effort to get back at querulous guard Allen Iverson. At the same time, of course, Donaghy now says that he gave info to mob gamblers because he feared they would come after his family. He's going to give details of this supposed stuff on 60 Minutes this Sunday. As this morning's Post puts it, back in 2007, "he exploited his knowledge of how other referees liked -- or hated -- certain players, like Philadelphia 76er Allen Iverson." Oh, those nasty Gambinos. They forced the poor ref into such crap.

Now Iverson, who has the biggest heart in basketball, is back on the Sixers, penitent and honestly teary-eyed. We'll see on Sunday whether Donaghy will shed crocodile tears.

Maybe it would be better for the league to re-hire Donaghy and have him fix one of the New Jersey Nets' games so they could finally win one. Brooklyn still loves the Bums, but not these bums and is warning Bruce Ratner not to bring them to the borough.

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arnie wexler says:

Ten years ago, as a compulsive-gambler counselor, I was asked to come to the National Basketball Association office in Manhattan and met with league officials, x players and union officials, concerned about players' gambling. The N B A paid for my ticket-- I was told, "We have a problem, and we're trying to find out how bad the problem is" Officials asked me to keep my calendar open for the spring of the following year and said to me that they hoped that I might address every team in the league.

When I hadn't heard from the NBA, I called and asked, "When do we start?" The told me it was cancelled, and the response I got was this: "They said that the higher-ups didn't want the media to find out"

HERE ARE THE FACTS

AS FAR AS MY STORY I GOT A CALL FROM HORACE BALMER HE WAS THE HEAD OF NBA SECURITY HE FLEW ME IN TO NYC FROM FLA DEC 99 I HAD A MEETING WITH ABOUT 10 -12 NBA TOP PEOPLE I CAN NAME THEM THEY WANTED ME TO SPEAK TO ALL THE TEAMS FROM JAN - MARCH 2000

THEY ASKED MY WIFE TO COME TO THE 2ED MEETING, THEY HAD US DEVELOP QUESTIONS TO GIVE TO THE PLAYERS AFTER I SPOKE TO THEM.

THEY TOLD US THEY "HAD A BIG PROBLEM WITH PLAYERS GAMBLING"
THE DEAL WAS A HANDSHAKE THEN 2 WEEKS LATER I CALLED TO GET STARTING DATE THEY SAID DAVID STERN KILLED IT "HE DIDENT WANT THE MEDIA TO FIND OUT THEY WERE GOING TO DO THIS"

WE WROTE THE QUESTIONS AND GAVE THEM TO THE PEOPLE WE MET WITH. I ALSO SENT THEM SELF ADDRESSED TO MY SELF IN AN ENVOLOPE I STILL HAVE THEM IN A SEALED POSTMAKED ENVOLOPE

WHEN USA TODAY WANTED TO DO THE STORY LAST YEAR THEY CALLD DAVID STERN AND WAS TOLD THEY DID NOT WANT TO ADMIT OR DENY THEY HAD THOSE MEETINGS WITH ME AND SHEILA

ARNIE WEXLER

ASWEXLER@AOL.COM

561 2000165 954 5015270