David Stern has some explaining to do
July 14th, 2008, 1:52 pm · Post a Comment · posted by scottbordow
NBA commissioner David Stern had the same, simple response every time he was asked about former referee Tim Donaghy, who pleaded guilty last year to felony charges of taking cash payoffs from gamblers in the 2006-07 season.
Donaghy is the only referee involved, Stern would say. Later, he called Donaghy a “rogue isolated criminal.”
Now comes word via Fox News that Donaghy called fellow referee Scott Foster 134 times from October 2006 to April 2007, the time frame in which he confessed to betting on games.
Several of those calls game before and after games Donaghy refereed and often were placed within minutes of Donaghy calling his bookie’s middleman.
As a reference point, Donaghy didn’t place more than 13 calls to any other NBA official during that time period.
Now, we don’t know what Donaghy and Foster were talking about. But it looks and smells suspicious. And if the suspicions prove true, Stern needs to resign.
His credibility would be shot. No one could trust him to fully investigate the matter. Every minute he remains in his office would further tarnish the league.
In the interim, Stern needs to publicly acknowledge the latest revelations and admit that he may have been too quick to isolate Donaghy.
He will suffer a public relations hit, but better that than being called a liar.
