By BRIAN MAHONEY, AP Basketball Writer
October 25, 2007NEW YORK (AP) — David Stern acknowledged Thursday that more than half of his 56 referees had violated NBA policies about casino gambling, but said none will be punished because he felt the rules were outdated.

Instead, Stern said he is altering the policies, leaning toward allowing referees to gamble in casinos during the offseason — except for betting in sports books.

The league’s strict gambling policies toward referees became public after the Tim Donaghy scandal. The NBA currently prevents its officials from entering the gaming area of a casino, or doing any betting at all except for going to race tracks during the offseason.

But Stern admitted he did a poor job of enforcing the policies, and with views toward gambling changing, decided he wouldn’t “penalize people for behavior that I’m about to change.”

“It’s too easy to issue rules that are on their faith violated by $5 Nassau, sitting at a poker table, buying a lottery ticket and then we can move along,” Stern said after wrapping up the league’s Board of Governors meetings. “And by the time I got through and I determined going into a casino isn’t a capital offense … I’m the CEO of the NBA and I’ll take responsibility.”

Stern also said Stu Jackson and Ronnie Nunn, in charge of monitoring officiating, will both have their roles altered. But he stressed they were being “expanded” rather than demotions — even though Jackson’s job now will be divided between two people and the league will be “cutting down on some of (Nunn’s) other responsibilities.”

The commissioner stressed there is still no indication that any other officials were involved in illegal gambling activity, but practically all of them violated a league policy that Stern called “too harsh.” That included anything from buying lottery tickets to taking part in poker games, betting on college football or taking part in NCAA tournament pools.

Stern ordered a review of the league’s entire officiating program after Donaghy pleaded guilty to betting on games he worked and providing information to others to help them win bets. Though the investigation being conducted by former federal prosecutor Lawrence Pedowitz can’t be completed until the federal investigation of Donaghy is wrapped up, it has already sparked some changes.

Stern said the league likely will begin listing the names of the crew of referees the morning of the game, and steps will be taken to admit when officiating mistakes were made.

Then there are the changes with Jackson and Nunn, who both came under fire after the scandal broke.

Jackson, the league’s executive vice president of basketball operations, will remain in that area, but sometime this season the league will hire a full-time referee operations executive. Jackson will continue to hand out on-court discipline and deal with many of the league’s international ventures, but will give up his referee responsibilities.

Nunn, the director of officials, will spend more time on the road training younger officials. The league already has hired Bernie Fryer, who retired last season, to deal with the crew chiefs. Stern said Nunn told him that “it’s more valuable for him to be on the road than to do his television show.”

“We are broadening and taking more responsibility and we are doing it with the people that we have and we’re going to add to them,” Stern said, “but certainly it’s not a reduction of responsibility.”

Stern also reiterated that he is not currently considering any action toward Knicks coach Isiah Thomas or Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan in the aftermath of the ruling against them in a sexual harassment suit brought by former team executive Anucha Browne Sanders.

The trial did bring another change, however. All team personnel now will be required to set and meet minimum standards regarding sensitivity training and respect in the workplace.

The board heard what “wasn’t a very uplifting report” about the situation in Seattle, where there has been no progress on funding for a new arena that would keep the SuperSonics in the city. Stern called himself an optimist but said his “optimism is waning” when it comes to the team’s future there.

Donaghy’s sentencing has been delayed until January, and Stern said he expects to learn further details about what the former referee did or didn’t do, such as making calls to affect games, if he cooperates with investigators. But Stern dismissed the notion that this season is more important than any other because of the scrutiny the league has been under since the summer.

“We evolve, we respond, we grow,” he said.

Don’t get to excited:

In USA TODAY, Roscoe Nance writes “NBA referees this season will use instant replay to review flagrant foul Penalty Two calls and player altercations. The NBA Board of Governors last week approved the expanded use of instant replay on the recommendation of the league’s competition committee. In the past, instant replay was used automatically on baskets and personal fouls made with no time remaining on the clock at the end of a period in regulation or overtime.” Source: NBA.com  Also See: USA Today

Shaq has filed papers on Shaunie O’ Neal, his wife of 5 years.

According to the AP the filing asks Shaunie to provide a ‘correct accounting of all money, funds, stocks, bonds, and other securities ‘ that she had access to or obtained during the marriage.

Was she stashing some chips to bounce on her own?

Take the $32,000,000 crib in Florida… get the kids… and she’s set.

Bob Delaney, the NBA’s most racist ref according to UnderneathSports.com, is releasing a new book in January.

Delaney was the ref who went undercover and infiltrate thed mob…  secretly went to Florida and started working negotiations outside of his duties and the investigation was quickly closed.  He ended up snitching out many guys he had befriended.  A true NBA ref in the making.  He started officiating some games in order to lose the weight he had gained while undercover.

Thats pretty much the story…  if you want to still buy the book…  knock yourself out.

“The Only Thing Our Refs shave is the ice.”

- A Dallas Stars billboard near the American Airlines Center, the building they share with the Dallas Mavericks

“Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy struck a deal Monday to name twenty other NBA referees who broke the league’s gambling rules. The refs could all lose their jobs. ”

 Full Story

As if David Stern didn’t already have enough on his plate with the contamination of his league by a crooked ref, the commish now has a shooting at DeShawn Stevenson’s Orlando home to deal with.

The Washington Wizards’ guard was supposedly asleep in his gated community home early Monday morning after an evening of clubbin’ ended with Stevenson and some of his boys bringing home some sluts women from the club. According to witnesses, the group was followed into the gated suburban community by a Cadillac Escalade and the driver of the Caddy got into an argument with one of the hos patrons from the club before opening fire. During the rain of gunfire, bullets tore up Stevenson’s Lexus SUV, his BMW and his crib, but Stevenson’s crew claims that they simply ran into the house and never returned fire. Apparently, the group of, uh, groupies just vanished into the night in their hooker heels and exposing outfits.

But, like always, something isn’t adding up in this high profile crime because Stevenson’s entourage is saying they never fired any weapons at the vehicle, but investigators found blood on one of the cars and bullet casings in the driveway. And about 30 minutes after the shootout, a man named Curtis Ruff drove up to a hospital in an Escalade with gunshot wounds to his leg. Ruff refused to cooperate, but the authorities feel pretty confident that he’s the dude they’re looking for. Well, duh!

However, either this guy decided to blast himself in the leg or he’s a worse shot than Harry from Dumb and Dumber OR DeShawn’s boys are lying about the return fire. We’re guessing it’s the latter. And what makes this even more suspicious is that nobody involved in the incident wanted to press charges. Now, we know that rich athletes are a completely different breed of people than us, but we can guarantee that if someone starts shooting up our home then we’re going after his ass. We’re guessing that like Michael Vick and all the other liars in the world of sports, Stevenson will eventually come out with a completely different story regarding the incident. Because, as of now, this story makes Jayson Williams’ tale of playfully twirling a shotgun before the shooting death of his limo driver seem somewhat plausible.

http://blog.sportscolumn.com/story/2007/8/21/11310/3550

Disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy admitted yesterday to pocketing more than $30,000 by passing inside tips on games to pals in an illegal gambling ring.

The crooked ex-official whose dirty dealings soiled the reputation of the pro hoops game pleaded guilty to charges that could put him behind bars for 25 years.

Every time his tip was on the mark, the rogue official was paid $5,000.

“I was in a unique position to pick the outcome of NBA games,” Donaghy, 40, told a judge in Brooklyn Federal Court. “I received cash payments for successful picks. Some of my picks included games I had been assigned to referee.”

From the insider perch, Donaghy added, “I was aware of the manner in which officials interacted with players and called games, as well as the condition of players prior to a game.”

Federal prosecutors alleged that Donaghy was betting on games he refereed back to 2003. But he denied that yesterday as he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to transmit bets and wagers.

Donaghy said he used a special code to communicate his tips to his betting buddies, James Battista, 42, and Thomas Martino, 41, two ex-high school classmates also charged yesterday.

Battista’s lawyer Jack McMahon said outside court he expects Donaghy has made a deal with prosecutors and will give testimony against his client.

“Mr. Donaghy walked away with a nice situation for himself,” McMahon said. “He is the linchpin, and he seems to have worked his way into a nice situation. I don’t know if that is fair.”

In addition to jail time, Donaghy is facing fines totaling half a million dollars and has agreed to cough up the $30,000 in ill-gotten gains.

All three men were released after posting a $250,000 bond.

Donaghy, a 13-year NBA veteran, resigned July 9 after news surfaced that he was at the center of an FBI probe. The betting scheme was uncovered during an investigation into the Gambino crime family in Brooklyn, but none of the defendants has mob ties.

His lawyer said yesterday a gambling addiction led to his involvement.

“He’s had a severe gambling problem for awhile that went untreated,” said lawyer John Lauro.

Donaghy, who lives in Florida, also told Judge Carol Bagley Amon he was taking drugs for depression and anxiety.

“He expresses a great deal of remorse and concern about the pain that he’s caused his family, his friends and his co-workers,” Lauro said.

It was unclear yesterday whether others are involved in the gambling scandal, but U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf said the investigation is continuing.

NBA commissioner David Stern said the league was still reviewing its officiating program.

Lamell McMorris, a spokesman for the National Basketball Referees Association, the union representing game officials, said: “We recognize that a cloud has descended upon all referees. But we are committed to showing the public that this was an isolated event and that NBA officiating is conducted at the highest levels of honesty, integrity and fairness.”

Link

By Michael Kiefer, The Arizona Republic
PHOENIX — Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas on Wednesday sent letters to NBA Commissioner David Stern and to the head of the FBI in Washington, D.C., asking that his office be given all information about Tim Donaghy’s handling of the two Phoenix Suns playoff games.
Thomas wants to know whether Donaghy gambled on the games, provided inside information to gamblers or helped determine the outcome.

“Specifically it has been reported that Mr. Donaghy refereed playoff series games between the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers on April 29, 2007, and the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs on May 12, 2007,” Thomas wrote.

“If Mr. Donaghy purposely failed to officiate the games properly and his conduct resulted in changing the outcome of games, such conduct might have violated various Arizona criminal statutes and could be the subject of criminal prosecution.”

Thomas did not comment Wednesday, but Special Assistant County Attorney Barnett Lotstein said Arizona’s “long-arm statute” allows the county to prosecute. “If any element of the crime happened in our county, we have jurisdiction,” Lotstein said.

Among the possible felony charges are fraudulent schemes and artifices, which carries a possible prison term of three to 10 years; and bribery of participants in professional or amateur games, which carries a possible prison term of one to 3¾ years.

By request: