A report stemming from a year-long review of the NBA’s officiating program released yesterday found no illegal activity other than disgraced referee Tim Donaghy. But it calls for a host of changes for the sake of compliance, integrity and oversight, and commissioner David Stern says the league will heed every one of them.
Among the recommendations in the 116-page manifest by former federal prosecutor Lawrence Pedowitz: Access to and transparency with refs, a conduit to address concerns with game integrity issues, and making complaints about refs available to both teams to avoid any bias. Stern said the first day he met with the FBI, they told him they had no evidence of any refs breaking any laws, but that many had broken the NBA’s poorly-defined rules on casino gambling.
Pedowitz’s report confirmed that and suggested better educating players on the dangers of gambling.
“In college we’ve seen point-shaving scandals; we want to avoid that happening in the NBA,” Pedowitz said. “We learned there’s a good deal of gambling going on. The players have more money than the refs, but we’re concerned the culture be right, that the tone always be . . . this can ruin your life.”
Stern said at the Oct. 22 Board of Governors meeting that he’ll push for every one of the suggestions to be implemented, and plans to have Pedowitz, who conducted over 200 interviews, follow up next year.
“The idea that criminal activity will exist every place else in the world except sports is something we can’t guarantee,” Stern said. “But we’re going to have the most effective system that’s ever been devised.”
The report was delayed by Donaghy’s trial, particularly his lawyer claiming the league pressured refs to rig the 2002 and 2005 playoffs for ratings. Pedowitz debunked that, and praised the choice of Army Major General (Ret.) Ronald L. Johnson as senior VP of referee operations. He will handle complaints about perceived ref bias.
“It’s clearly an issue if the teams have a perception,” Pedowitz said. “If it’s there, it should be dealt with.”