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With an elimination in sight for Game 5 of the 2017 NBA Final, a former referee who served time for fixing games suggested that the league might try to extend the series by trying to influence refs officiating Monday night’s game.
“I think they’re going to show [the referees] a lot of plays that should’ve been called against Golden State and weren’t… It’s a situation where they’re going to try to get a Game 6 and open things up to create some more revenue for the league,” the disgraced ref Tim Donaghy said while appearing on KNBR Radio in San Francisco.
Donaghy served over a year behind bars for admitting to fixing games. He officiated for 13 seasons in the NBA.
Donaghy claims he felt as though the NBA often had a clear preference in games that he officiated.
“I’ve been in the situation before, I’ve been in these meetings, I’ve been in these sessions,” Donaghy said. “I’ve walked out of them with my crew and kind of laughed thinking to ourselves, ‘Wow, they really want the Lakers,’ or ‘They want the Spurs, or the Cleveland Cavaliers to win tonight.’ It’s no secret we’ve walked out of these sessions laughing because David Stern was on TV one time saying the best NBA Finals would be the Lakers vs. the Lakers. It’s in the back of their mind at all times what’s best for the league.”
- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
