Episode 343: Tim Donaghy Opens Us About NBA Referees
Episode Stats
Length
1 hour and 14 minutes
Words per Minute
216.63841
Summary
Tim Donahue is a former NBA official who served 15 months in prison for gambling. He also served time for a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Tim talks about his 13 year career in the NBA and why the officiating is still not as good as it used to be.
Transcript
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30 seconds. One time for the underdog. One time for the underdog. Ignition sequence start.
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Let me see you put them up. Reach the sky, turn the stars up above.
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Cause it's one time for the underdog. One time for the underdog.
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I'm Patrick Bedevi, your host of AITM, and today I'm sitting down with Tim Donahue,
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who was a former referee who got arrested, went and did time.
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He opens up about what the NBA looks like today, and if referees are still gambling and cheating.
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Me, as a big sports fan, I always followed, you know, basketball, baseball,
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and sometimes when you got the referees that affect the game, you get pissed off when a referee makes a good call or a bad call,
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and you wonder, is there something going on here?
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So today we have Tim Donahue. Let me tell you a little bit about Tim Donahue's background.
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He reffed from 1994 to 07, which is a very interesting 13-year career,
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because during that time he reffed with MJ's peak, Kobe's peak, LeBron's peak, Shaq, a lot of other names.
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So we're going to get into a lot of those personalities.
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But also there was a part where from 03 to 07, he was gambling while refereeing,
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which ended up costing him his job, ended 15 months in prison.
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Very, very interesting stories that if you're a sports fan or somebody that even is in that world,
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you're definitely going to be blown away by some of the stories that he has.
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So with that being said, Tim Donahue, thanks for being on the way, Tainman.
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So I wish some of it was recorded, but I'm sure we're going to touch up on some of the stories.
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the first question I want to know when I go back and I call people around who went to school with you,
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I found a few guys that went to school with you who knew you when you were 16, 17, 18.
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You know, and they told me what they thought how you were in school.
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But I want to ask you, who were you in high school?
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If I went to high school with you, who was Tim?
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You know, I like to push the envelope a little bit and have a lot of fun.
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So definitely the guy that was trying to make everybody laugh.
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Were you always like, were you from a family that you had high expectations?
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Even today when I do something with the kids, you know, talk about having four daughters,
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you know, whatever it is, if we're playing a game of cards, you know, I want to win.
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So, yeah, overly competitive, you know, with every aspect of, you know, you play to win.
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Did you play all sports or was it mainly basketball?
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Mainly basketball, baseball, a little bit of football when I was younger.
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But the main thing that I enjoyed the most was basketball.
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And you were a pretty competitive basketball player.
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I mean, like I said, when I got involved in doing something competitive, it wasn't something
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Is that a standard that was set by pops or mom?
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Was that like a family standard, like you better compete?
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I think it's just a standard growing up with, you know, four brothers.
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Everybody was competitive in the area that I grew up in.
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There was no way that, you know, anyone wanted to come in second place.
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If you went home in second place, you better go home with a bunch of blood on you.
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I read somewhere that you had a one time you came home and you had a third place trophy
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You pulled down the window, you threw it out because you didn't want to show your dad
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Right over the Walt Whitman Bridge, you know, rolled the window down, threw it right in the water.
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Because, you know, I had older brothers that, you know, had trophies.
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You know, we all lined them up on the heaters in the bedroom and, you know, nobody had a
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It wasn't like it is today where everybody gets a participation trophy, you know.
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So you definitely didn't want to walk in my house with that.
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Is that competitiveness, like the part I'm trying, I got three kids myself, so I'm just
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Meaning, was it just because you had four brothers, you know, four of you and obviously
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But you're in Philly, which is a very competitive sports city.
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And the culture in Philadelphia, especially where you grew up at.
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So was your dad expecting all of you guys to perform at a high level or no, it was purely
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I mean, my dad, you know, had high expectations for all of us and whatever we got involved
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in, even today, you know, when I got in all my trouble, we'd have conversations.
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I'd be like, I don't know what I'm going to do with my life.
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And he said, you know, I don't care if you have to dig ditches for a life, just be the
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So even when you went through it, he still kept the same mindset with you?
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Was he a guy that he felt bad for you for going through it or no?
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I think deep down he probably felt bad, but no, definitely man up.
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You're going to have to get yourself out of it.
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You have four daughters and, you know, dig deep and do what you have to do.
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So how does one go about becoming a referee in the NBA?
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I mean, obviously, you don't have a lot of referees.
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Like, this isn't an option where you got 200 refs, ref in a game.
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It's typically the same faces for a decade, two decades.
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You know, I was fortunate that the area I was from was a hotbed for referees, whether it
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So, you know, we had a lot of people that, you know, came from our area.
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I think what happened was is people saw and these people were accessible in the community
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and you thought to yourself, wow, if he did it, I could probably do it.
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You went to school, same school that what, Ed Molloy Crawford went to?
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I mean, that's a- So, you know how you say Silicon Valley, all the technology companies
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I mean, there's refereeing going on everywhere.
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Is one guy made it and he started making money so people followed his footsteps?
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I think, you know, Crawford was a big guy in our area.
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It's not like, you know, he was some- Felt like he was somebody special.
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He gave back to the younger referees and would go to a park where you were reffing, you know,
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a men's league game and he'd show up and he'd start giving you pointers.
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So, he passed it down to a lot of people in that area and it was great basketball in the
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Philadelphia area so you were always refereeing, you know, the good athletes so you learned
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a lot quicker than maybe somebody that was refereeing somewhere else.
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So, you got used to the bigger guys and the hard play and when you got in front of those
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people that you were looking to impress, you were ready for it.
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I mean, I know you went to Villanova for school yourself, right?
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And then you were refereeing some college games but when was your break when you all of a
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You know, what happened for me was I was lucky because my father was a Final Four official,
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So, my last name was recognized in the officiating community.
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So, when I started to do it, I got a lot of breaks probably a lot sooner than a lot of
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other people did so it was a training process and a training program and, you know, I took
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it very seriously and I was fortunate that, you know, I made it to the NBA.
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It was in Indiana and they were playing Houston.
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And at the end of the game, Reggie Miller makes a move and he's always trying to draw contact
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and jumped into somebody and I called an offensive foul.
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They're going to call an offensive foul on Reggie Miller.
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Oh, boy, that took a lot of guts by that young official and, boy, look at the debris come
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And the place went nuts, threw stuff on the court.
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Game couldn't be played for about 20 minutes and that was my first game and, you know, how
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you always go back to your hotel room and you watch SportsCenter, da-da-da-da, da-da-da.
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And it was funny because I don't know who did it.
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But, you know, I had football helmets sent to my house from one of the other referees,
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you know, saying you're probably going to need this for the rest of your career.
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So, that was my first game and it was something that I always remember.
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I mean, your dad being a referee, did he call you saying, what are you doing?
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Daryl Garrison was at the game and as we walked off the floor and went into the locker room,
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he said, we're going to find out real quick if you're going to make it in this league because
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And he backed me up and supported me and so did Rod Thorne with the call.
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Looking back, probably would have been the easier call to make, would have been just to
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It was one of those things that could have went either way.
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Did he tell you anything when he saw you on ESPN or no?
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And, you know, give me pointers here and there.
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But the college game was really much different than the NBA game.
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It wasn't, you know, in college, you refereed the rules as they were written in the rule
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In the NBA, you refereed personalities and names on the front and the back of the jersey.
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You actually were one of the three referees of the night when the Pacers against the Pistons
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I mean, obviously, everybody knows what happened with Ben Wallace and Ron Artest, but how did
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I think you guys had to stop the entire game and send everybody home.
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It was just bad blood, I think, from previous games.
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And during a dead ball after a free throw, you know, they start pushing each other.
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And the next thing you know, we're trying to straighten things out.
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And Artest goes over and sits by the table and somebody, you know, throws a beer on him
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So, yeah, standing in the middle of that with chairs flying and, you know, Jermaine O'Neal
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And if there wasn't so much water and beer on the floor, he lost his back foot.
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And I think if he didn't lose his back foot, I think that kid would be dead because, you
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know, there's a guy with a lot of power just punching somebody as hard as he could.
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What made it get to the point where you're like, we have to call the game.
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There was just too many fights going on in the stands.
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Who called the shots to say the game is called?
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Ron Garrison, who was the crew chief at that time, said, there's no way we can play this
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And, you know, everything was just flying all over the place.
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When's the last time that ever happened to the NBA?
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I mean, in baseball games, you get called for rain.
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I was afraid he was going to take a swing at me.
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I grabbed Ron Artes by the jersey, and he drug me like I was just an ant right up into the
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And then Steven Jackson said something like that game cost him $3.8 million, some big
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number with the fights that broke out in the stands.
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But I think the last time I saw something like that take place was in 96, 95 season when
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Vernon Maxwell ran up 16 rows and Ori pulled him back.
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Ori pulled him out and said, listen, we got to get out of here.
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So as you're going through and you're reffing and you're doing what you're doing, all these
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different personalities, who were some of the toughest guys to ref because they talk
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You know, Reggie Miller was tough at times because he always was trying to draw contact.
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You didn't know if he was causing it or if the defender was calling it.
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Carl Malone and, of course, you know, Rashid Wallace was one of those guys that, you know,
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was always bickering back and forth with the referees.
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I guess the question I would ask is, you know, the level of difficulty on you because you watch
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the games and you see who talks a lot to the refs and who doesn't, right?
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Who talked a lot to you that brought so much pressure to you?
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You know, today you're going to be facing off with Kobe, Jordan, Shaq, Malone, Olajuwon,
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Who did you know was demanding to never miss a call on him out of everybody?
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Rashid, because even if, you know, you were right sometimes, he'd tell you you were wrong.
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So he was one of the toughest guys to referee because it was just relentless.
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No matter what, you knew it was going to be a headache the entire 48 minutes.
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I read about it in the book about, you know, he's got 25 points and they win by 30.
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And at the end of the game, he takes the ball and, you know, was upset with a call
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and bounced it to the other referee who was walking away and hit him in the back.
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But, you know, he was really upset and he waited for me out in the parking lot.
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Yeah, jumped out from behind a pole and literally wanted to fist fight me.
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Like to the point of wanting to really hit you.
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You know, I'm going to kick your ass, you son of a bitch type, you know, screaming.
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My reaction was to stand there and act like I wasn't scared.
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6'11", long, lengthy, and I'm sure he's been in a couple of scraps in his day.
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Yeah, he would lead the league in technical fouls, I think, every year, 17, 21, 16.
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So you reffed for Mike, right, when he was at his peak.
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You know, I think with your referees, they came at you two different ways.
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I think Michael came at you in a way that was, you know, more professional.
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He would let you know that, you know, you owed him one or he felt like you missed a call.
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He'd come up to you at a, you know, dead ball or, you know, at a free throw and come over
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to you and just, you know, whisper to you or, you know, let you know, you know, I got
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And plant the seed in your mind that, you know, when he goes to the basket and he misses
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a shot, you know, it's not because he missed a shot.
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Would he berate you and belittle you or that wasn't his thing?
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He was, you know, pretty professional when he went after the referees.
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Kobe, you know, he was a little more adamant, a little bit more cocky about it, a little
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He knew he was the best player in the game at that time.
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And, you know, he wanted that treatment that Jordan got for so many years.
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And he let you know when he felt he wasn't getting it.
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I'll never forget that, you know, there was a game and this is one of the games where I
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passed information along to people I shouldn't have.
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But Phil Jackson sent a tape into the league office and one of the group supervisors came
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in and told the referees that they sent a tape in that said, you know, here's 25 plays in
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the last three games that Kobe was fouled on and the referees missed the call.
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They did different things to plant seeds in the NBA office in the referees' mind to, you
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know, if they felt that their star player wasn't getting the treatment that they deserved.
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For coaches and owners to send videos into home office for you guys to see?
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Not for the referees to see, but for the association to see.
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And then hopefully it's going to be passed down.
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I don't think the league office wanted it passed down in the manner that it was passed
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But, you know, that's planting a seed in our heads to make sure we don't miss a play going
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And I knew that, you know, he was probably going to go to the line 20 times that night
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If I'm Phil, if I'm Popovich, if I'm Riley, if I'm whoever, and I'm not happy about the way
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the game was reffed, and I take these three plays and I record them and I moderate it
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I think, yeah, I think Mark Cuban really started to go overboard with that and bombard the league
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office with plays and situations where he felt his team was getting screwed.
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I noticed one thing you said about Mark is that most of the time his complaints, he was right.
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So he wasn't just a business guy that didn't know the game and he wasn't savvy.
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He actually was a business guy who understood the game and when he would get upset about a
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Most of the referees hated his guts because they felt that our job was made harder because
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of all the complaints that he did, which made us have to break more tape down and file
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more reports based on the fact that they wanted us to monitor our calls more.
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And it was because he was sending stuff into the league office and he was asking, why don't
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Where's the breakdown from the referees on what's a correct call and what's an incorrect
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Was there a trend with what he wasn't happy with or no?
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Was there like a specific series of three things, this travel you didn't call or this
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Or is there any trend yet with things he wasn't happy with?
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I think Mark's biggest gripe was, and he was 100% right, is that there was so much subjectivity
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and the rules weren't being reinforced as they were written in the rule book.
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So, you know, and personalities came into play.
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So one night somebody may call, you know, rough house play in the post and then the next crew
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He wanted more of a consistent whistle from the group of referees rather than having different
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I remember one time I read somewhere saying that they asked David Stern, what does the
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He was a big Laker guy, although later on he kind of stopped the Chris Paul trade for
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Pau Gasol that one year, if you remember what happened with that year.
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Was there a feeling of the commissioner favors two or three teams and the rest of us are just
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Like you said, when he makes a comment that the best ratings would be the Lakers versus
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And the referees are paid based on advancement from the first round to the second round, the
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And they know that you're being graded on certain things.
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So, you know, Bavetta would say he was the NBA's go-to guy.
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And a lot of times he was, you know, on a game six that helped the Lakers advance to
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Or, you know, it was a situation where Portland should have won a series.
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The Lakers won because of a lot of the calls that he made.
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The famous Sacramento game six where, you know, things happen at the end of the game
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And now Bob Delaney with the whistle and the foul on E-box.
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That game seven in Sacramento, his mindset was it's another game.
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Of course, L.A. goes into Sacramento and upsets them.
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That's a year that, you know, Sacramento probably should have had a ring on their finger.
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Every game I watched, I could tell you exactly where I was at.
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It was Bob Delaney, Ted Bernhardt, and Dick Bavetta were refereeing that game six.
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So I think people get Delaney and Donaghy confused a little bit.
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And that's the game where in the fourth quarter, I think Lakers shot 27 free throws versus, you
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know, the Kings shot 10 free throws or 7-4-9, I want it to be exact.
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And Lakers shot 27, which is insane to shoot 27 free throws in the fourth quarter.
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That happens from the Chris Webber offensive foul.
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And then a series of fouls that made no sense, absolutely made no sense.
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So when that happens, how much of that is association coming down saying we need a seven
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for the Lakers to go to game seven versus Nets, Kings?
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I'd rather have Lakers Nets than have, you know, the Kings.
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Well, nobody really ever comes down and says, you know, fix this game or we need the Lakers
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But what they do is they'll show you plays that happen early on in the series and show
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It might be a player in the post is too physical.
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And they were always for the team that was down in the series to benefit them.
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So they'd show you 10 plays and eight of them were going to help the team that was down
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And they'd throw two in just to not make it so obvious.
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What happens is when you're in the playoffs, you'll referee game one and maybe a game four
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So you're never going to ref, you know, the whole series or you're going to be left out
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But there's an incentive for it to go game seven so I can get another game, right?
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Do you get paid per game or is it you get paid per game or it's just a set?
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But we always helped all the games went seven games because it was more assignments for
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So the more games you guys make more money, the more games it is.
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But there's extra bonus money for the airlines.
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You know, you flew, they gave you $2,500, $3,000 for an airline ticket and yet you were
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Maybe the comp is structured in a way for me to have an incentive to drag the series
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versus not emotionally being connected with it on my pocket so I'm not tempted to do something.
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Do you think sometimes the way the comp structure is built for refs, you are sitting here reffing
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these guys that are making 20, 30, 40 million a year.
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You're making 275 and you're like, wait a minute, this is insanity.
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I know I'm the ref, but I'm only making this much money.
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Do you think sometimes that leads to a little bit of a temptation or no?
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So, you know, the salary was good and so was the, you know, extra benefits of the airline
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So the top referees were making, you know, well over $400,000 a year when you talk about
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I don't know if it's, you know, going up from there or not, but I'm sure it's got
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to be, you know, somewhat the same or even better.
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So Bovetta was reffing that game, Kings-Lakers.
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Now I'm a diehard Laker fan, so I'm kind of glad the way it turned out because, you know,
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I want proper officiating as a fan because you want to know who's really winning.
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You don't want to see somebody else have an influence.
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Didn't Danny Crawford go to MJ's camp, the flight school that he had, and they spoke
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Because it seems like Jordan had some issues with Bovetta as well.
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Or was it Bovetta or was it a different referee he was talking about?
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I think, you know, what happens is every referee has players they like and dislike.
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And every player, you know, when they walk out onto the floor, looks at the referees and
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knows whether they're going to get the benefit of a whistle or not.
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And Jordan felt that he didn't get the benefit from Bovetta at times.
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So, you know, he talked about it with Danny Crawford, who was working his summer basketball
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So where Bovetta may not be giving Jordan the benefit of the cause, I can guarantee you
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Danny Crawford was because he was working that summer basketball camp getting paid.
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Just like when Bennett Salvatore had Jordan's sneakers in his restaurant autographed up on
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I can guarantee you that, you know, he got the benefit of the cause when Salvatore was
00:25:06.380
Every referee had their, you know, likes and dislikes, you know, with a player and a
00:25:11.860
So the way I see it when I look at it from the outside is just like some of these companies
00:25:17.740
You know, you see Amazon moving a part of their headquarters close to D.C. and being right
00:25:22.100
next to, you know, Virginia because that's where the politicians and the lawmakers are.
00:25:26.240
Was there a lot of that going on with players and refs as well?
00:25:32.860
Was there some that played that strategy a lot or was it an unspoken rule?
00:25:37.620
You know, relationships, both positive and negative, existed in the NBA with the referees
00:25:42.540
and the players, referees and the coaches and the referees and owners.
00:25:48.540
You know, I read a story in the book about him turning to Mark Cuban and literally putting
00:25:53.380
his hands down his pants and playing with his junk, you know, and taunting Cuban.
00:26:01.580
Yeah, to the point where Cuban had a camera focus on Crawford and sent the tape into the
00:26:08.120
The top guys hated Mark because they felt like he changed the structure of what we needed
00:26:21.300
So who Joey doesn't like, Danny doesn't like, that they were so in cahoots that if you were
00:26:26.420
For the most part, they were very good friends.
00:26:28.880
And the bottom line is a lot of people, like I said, didn't like Mark because of the fact
00:26:36.700
You know, a lot of guys like to go out to the bars after the game and do their thing.
00:26:40.640
You know, when Mark came in, it was after the game we were in the locker room or a hotel
00:26:49.800
So, you know, in the business world, you know, a lot of companies run their priorities in
00:26:53.720
For instance, there are some companies in Silicon Valley that, number one, is engineer.
00:26:59.040
You give them whatever they want, spa treatment, good treatment, leave them alone.
00:27:08.020
When you look at the NBA at the top, what is the level of priority who they're loyal to?
00:27:13.640
If you have owners, if you have players, if you have fans, if you have referees, if you
00:27:20.100
have executives, if Mark is complaining to the association about Joey and Danny, from
00:27:25.180
my standpoint, I'm like, wait a minute, he's one of your 30 owners.
00:27:29.700
How did the association treat the most important client at the top?
00:27:36.920
If they could have these games played without...
00:27:44.000
You know, at times they did let some referees go.
00:27:49.460
It was always, you know, recently they paid Eli Rowe $350,000 to kind of walk away from
00:28:09.740
That's the second technical, which is an automatic ejection.
00:28:14.040
Maybe Crawford felt he was showing him up by constantly laughing.
00:28:23.380
And everybody joked around that, you know, he had pictures with David Stern with farm animals
00:28:27.900
somewhere because they couldn't understand the fact that David Stern brought him back
00:28:32.140
again after this being another serious problem that he had on the floor.
00:28:36.900
After, you know, warning after warning after warning.
00:28:53.640
I think it would be the players, the owners, and then the fans.
00:29:08.480
You know, what did that fan do that you're going to permanently ban him?
00:29:14.420
The guy says, sell the team, and now he's not allowed back to watch a game.
00:29:21.740
You're there to have fun, scream and cheer, whether it's positive or negative.
00:29:26.880
I just, I found it was absurd that they said that these fans couldn't come back.
00:29:31.400
You think that decision is made with front office?
00:29:34.200
Meaning, did Utah's owner call front office and say, what should we do?
00:29:39.100
And the NBA said, Adams said, you better permanently ban the fan from the game?
00:29:43.980
Or do you think it's the team that made the decision without the enforcement of the association?
00:29:48.900
I think it's the team that makes those individual decisions.
00:29:54.440
So, it's kind of like how the government is ran.
00:29:55.800
You leave the states to run it the way they want.
00:29:57.420
Federal makes the decision, and the states make the decisions the way they want.
00:30:01.520
And you don't agree that was the right decision?
00:30:03.980
I mean, I could see if somebody screamed or cursed or said something, you know, offensive with kids and women around.
00:30:10.840
But, to me, they just, you know, they voiced an opinion.
00:30:14.480
I don't understand why, you know, that was such a major issue.
00:30:16.800
Well, did you hear what Westbrook said, that they said to him?
00:30:19.660
No, I believe that that wasn't the case, because they interviewed the guy, and they had the tape.
00:30:24.080
Don't they have enough audio to be able to hear what the fans said?
00:30:27.080
I mean, you should be able to hear all this stuff.
00:30:28.880
It's not like you can't investigate that and figure out what the fans were saying.
00:30:32.940
You've got 20 people around them to interview and say, what do they say?
00:30:35.380
They have cameras up in the scoreboard that they can roll back things,
00:30:39.680
and if somebody throws something from a seat, they can zero in and find out who threw it.
00:30:47.000
So, I would think that they could definitely determine what was said.
00:30:50.960
So, when it comes down to Danny Crawford, Joey Crawford, and an owner like Cuban,
00:30:56.040
what control do owners have to say who gets to ref?
00:31:00.760
It's all association assigning who refs what game,
00:31:03.720
and the owners have no say for who refs any game.
00:31:06.900
Supposedly, they have no say, but, you know, there was two guys that were released a couple years ago,
00:31:12.260
Kevin Fair and Phil Robinson, and, you know, supposedly Mark Cuban had a lot to do with that.
00:31:18.260
They were in the league 15, 16, 17 years, weren't refereeing in the playoffs,
00:31:24.680
Why are we paying somebody so much money when he's not, they're not talented enough to be a,
00:31:34.920
who would you say in the NBA is as involved as an owner as Mark Cuban is?
00:31:42.300
He's owned the Mavs since, what, I don't know, 92, 93, 90, I don't know the exact year.
00:31:47.980
I want to say 92, I think, when he bought them, give or take, when he bought the Mavs.
00:31:52.340
So, after he purchases the Mavs, how many NBA owners do you think have attended their team games,
00:32:04.300
No, but I think they started to because once he started to do it, they—
00:32:08.540
What I'm trying to say is if I'm the association, I want more Cuban owners.
00:32:19.540
He's on the—that's why he's involved emotionally to it.
00:32:22.500
And so a Mark Cuban, believe it or not, recruits more guys like me to one day want to own a team where Dolan doesn't.
00:32:36.040
Like maybe Mark said, one day I want to be as a great owner as Jerry Buss.
00:32:39.640
Because Jerry Buss was the best owner in the history of the NBA.
00:32:42.560
33 seasons, you win 10 championships, 10 out of 30.
00:32:50.360
But, yeah, when I see that, I'm like, maybe you ought to listen when a couple of these referees.
00:32:54.560
So do you think refs should get fired if you notice a trend that they're taking sides?
00:33:00.920
Like, do you think refs ought to be fired and not be protected by union, even the best ones?
00:33:04.720
You know, I think a ref should be fired if his percentages are low and they're tracking every call every referee makes.
00:33:12.860
And they're saying that, you know, every referee has a percentage attached to their name.
00:33:18.440
So they should get rid of the bottom 5% every year and bring in somebody else because the rules are clear cut.
00:33:25.880
Like, they give you tape, they show you what to call, and they put it out there for you.
00:33:30.380
And if you're not making, you're not doing the job, or if you have a sales rep that's not selling the product, how long are you going to keep that, you know, sales rep?
00:33:37.700
You're going to get rid of them, and that's what they should do with the referees.
00:33:39.880
If they're not doing their job, they should be released.
00:33:42.820
I mean, if you want me to compete in a marketplace and you're doing it based on a rule book, we're going to enforce the rule book.
00:33:47.520
And the part that gets frustrating is when you have an edge over me because you've got seven referees that are on your side, and they're manipulating the game.
00:33:55.760
They control the game, and they hate me because I'm a vocal owner because I show up and I care about my business, and you're going to throw me under the bus like a Joey Crawford, one out of 15.
00:34:05.080
I think it's Danny's the one that's one out of 15 playoffs, Mavs record.
00:34:09.120
It turns me off as an owner knowing I—because whoever buys a sports team has gone through capitalism, period.
00:34:23.300
And in the marketplace, you play with the rules.
00:34:25.040
And when you play with the rules, if the rules are not fair, you're going to compete.
00:34:28.660
You have to figure out what you can do and pivot and all this other stuff.
00:34:31.800
So when you go into a league that there's additional games and manipulation, it's a little bit frustrating for an owner.
00:34:37.460
So I can fully understand where he's coming from.
00:34:39.660
Sure, because you go into it, and you want to get the best coach.
00:34:41.860
You want to get the best GM to build your team based on the rules,
00:34:47.880
And that, at times, just isn't something that's happening.
00:34:50.900
How many times do you see coaches being fired after having one bad season, two bad seasons?
00:34:59.040
This guy stuck with Carlisle for how many years now?
00:35:03.860
And there's been some times where he could have made the decision because everybody said,
00:35:06.720
he should get rid of him, change it up, bring somebody else.
00:35:09.280
And you kind of see the discipline of the fact that he sticks with people.
00:35:12.720
Anyway, that's a complete different conversation.
00:35:15.580
You know, when did it happen for you, the whole story of you all of a sudden saying,
00:35:22.500
What was that process when you got introduced to the sheep, Batista?
00:35:29.240
You know, what happened was is I love the golf.
00:35:31.640
So I'm golfing at country clubs, starting to play in big money golf matches.
00:35:35.340
After golf matches, jumping in the car and heading to a casino, sitting at a blackjack table,
00:35:41.160
the excitement's there with all your buddies from the country club.
00:35:44.880
And it just became a situation for me where I loved it.
00:35:52.320
And every day of my life, I was, you know, golfing.
00:35:56.820
I was betting on games, college, football, college basketball.
00:36:01.540
And it just escalated to, you know, my one buddy having the Philadelphia Daily News with him
00:36:06.880
asking me to pick a couple games for him in the NBA.
00:36:09.640
I had just come from home, and I looked at the referee list of who was refereeing the games.
00:36:18.600
Maybe it was, you know, an example that you were using with Danny Crawford had a problem
00:36:24.160
And I rattled off three games to him real quick based on who was refereeing, and I went 3-0.
00:36:29.040
And he calls me up the next day and he goes, man, was it that easy?
00:36:40.820
And then, you know, when things happened, like the thing with Kobe Bryant, and I knew
00:36:44.860
he was going to start going to the line because they were complaining with the league office
00:36:49.660
and the referees were being told that these plays were being missed, that, you know, I
00:36:54.520
started passing along information like that to them when I was officiating some of the
00:36:58.680
So, you know, I got up to a line and then I just jumped over it and I shouldn't have been
00:37:03.820
And when you did, was it the moment, did you know, like, the point of no return, like,
00:37:11.240
Was it the first time we were like, I'm too deep?
00:37:15.780
Then it got to the point where, you know, I was doing it and I said to my buddy, you
00:37:22.220
Then we just floated back into doing it and then we stopped for good.
00:37:26.540
And what I didn't know was that this guy was passing this information along to the sheep
00:37:33.060
and to another guy that was associated with big gamblers and they were making millions
00:37:40.060
So when we stopped doing it and the sheep and all his people weren't getting the plays
00:37:44.700
anymore, I went into Philadelphia for a game and Tommy Martino, who was a high school buddy
00:37:50.440
of mine, you know, called me up and said, hey, listen, I'm going to come down and see
00:37:54.600
And, you know, they came down and they picked me up and in the car was James Batista.
00:38:00.340
And he told me that, you know, he was getting the plays for, you know, years from Jack and
00:38:06.320
Cannon and they were making millions of dollars on it and that he needed to get, continue to
00:38:12.280
And if not, you know, he was going to expose me to the NBA or have somebody visit my wife
00:38:20.940
So it was something that, you know, we set it up and I was to give Martino the plays and
00:38:27.160
And they were making millions of dollars and it was hurt over a Gambino wiretack.
00:38:33.220
How did you feel in that moment when that statement was made?
00:38:35.620
Like, what was your immediate reaction or was there an immediate, like, did you startle?
00:38:42.500
I can't all of a sudden call somebody up and say, hey, listen, this is what I've been doing
00:38:47.280
Can you just let me go and I won't do it anymore and keep my job?
00:38:53.860
I was hoping at the end of the basketball season, after giving them the picks, that
00:38:58.240
it was going to be over and we're never going to do it again.
00:39:02.500
They were never going to, you know, as the FBI agents say, release the golden goose.
00:39:07.160
You're, you know, putting too many, you know, dollars in their pockets for them to just stop.
00:39:12.860
So now this continues post that statement for how long?
00:39:17.200
So he makes that statement to you, if you don't continue, we're going to have to pay a visit.
00:39:21.220
I believe it was December 22nd and it went on for the next three or four months to where
00:39:25.480
they were really banging the games and the lines were going from 10 points up to 14 or
00:39:30.780
15 points because they were just betting millions and millions of dollars on it.
00:39:34.520
And the FBI agents said normally they wouldn't touch a gambling case, but it was putting so
00:39:39.480
much money into the coffers of, you know, the crime families that, you know, that's why
00:39:47.440
Is it bookies or is it, you know, online, you know, gambling, Vegas type of stuff?
00:39:53.300
How were they doing it for not to be tracked or to be tracked?
00:39:58.440
I think Batista was so strung out on drugs and, you know, owed so many people so much
00:40:03.960
money that he was getting down whoever would take his action.
00:40:09.280
Even documented, meaning it doesn't matter if it was Vegas, bookies, I'm going through
00:40:14.380
And the word on the street now is, is that the people actually in Vegas, you know, knew
00:40:20.640
that was going on and they were piggybacking on the bets also.
00:40:23.520
So the red flags were going up, but they were just ignoring them on purpose because they
00:40:30.180
Had he already dropped your name where he had credibility with the bets he was making or
00:40:36.620
And I think that, you know, it was, you know, want to keep it a secret, not expose it and
00:40:40.340
then maximize it to the, to the best that you could do.
00:40:43.260
I think as he got more strung out on drugs and he started losing money, betting on other
00:40:48.240
things, the word out now is that, you know, he, he lost $7 million of people's money and
00:40:57.680
You know, I got a golden goose and his name's Tim Donaghy.
00:41:05.660
What was the biggest bet they were, they were making?
00:41:10.160
No, they weren't telling me, but, but you know, the, the, the agent said they were betting
00:41:15.040
What were you making per, uh, per, per victory?
00:41:23.200
And when it was happening where you're like, oh my gosh, this is an additional source of
00:41:29.040
Because, you know, I, I, I always like to have a big wad of money in my pocket to hit the casinos,
00:41:33.840
to, to golf with, you know, uh, you know, standing over a putt, you know, sometimes we were betting
00:41:42.000
I mean, it was just, uh, out of control, but I loved it.
00:41:47.640
Was, was Jack pre, uh, uh, the sheep or was he post?
00:41:52.200
No, Jack was pre the sheep and, and Jack was just my, my good buddy, great guy.
00:42:00.820
Played at St. Joe's, uh, great athlete and, uh, you know, a, a super guy and, you know,
00:42:07.100
And, you know, it just, uh, was a situation where, you know, he was to put the bets in
00:42:13.800
But what was happening is, you know, the guy that he was putting the bets in was, you
00:42:18.320
know, taking that information and knowing that we were buddies and, and using that information
00:42:31.720
Uh, he owes me money for restitution that I paid.
00:42:35.340
So from time to time, I have to send him a text message.
00:42:43.040
It's somewhat of a relationship or, you know, an email that I'll have to send to his attorney
00:42:48.240
and him, you know, he, he's not a, uh, you know, a friend of mine, uh, in any way, shape
00:42:53.480
or form, but due to the fact that he, you know, owes me that money, there's some, you
00:43:00.960
You guys, you guys use this phrase Schmaga like a kid from school and what, what was that
00:43:07.080
Schmaga was, uh, you know, it was a kid from Holy Cross that was, uh, mentally and physically
00:43:12.920
handicapped and the Martino family, Tommy, uh, you know, really cared for this kid.
00:43:17.840
He really didn't have any family members and they took him in as if he was, you know, their
00:43:27.080
We take him out to eat and he was just kind of a part of our family, so to speak, you know,
00:43:31.500
and, uh, you know, the Martinos were, you know, gracious and everything that they, they
00:43:38.480
And, uh, we, we said that when we needed a name for a game where it was just a, uh, uh,
00:43:46.140
And I think Tommy said, you know, well, let's call it a Schmaga because that was, uh, Joey's
00:43:53.700
That meant double or triple the bet that you're making.
00:43:57.020
And, uh, uh, what, what I, based on what I hear about Tommy, Tommy was, uh, Tommy was
00:44:08.560
He'd be pissed off if he heard you say he's 5'5".
00:44:15.240
Tommy, I heard good things for what I've heard from what people said about you.
00:44:18.060
He was, uh, a good looking kid, uh, very likable kid, uh, you know, and, and...
00:44:30.540
His, his cousin, Paulie Martino, a venture capitalist who has a lot of money, you know,
00:44:35.820
is, is doing a film based on his, uh, life called Inside Game.
00:44:41.480
I'm going to see it next week, but I think it's like a cross between Goodfellas and The
00:44:47.120
So they're going to highlight the part about refereeing as well?
00:44:50.480
I think they're definitely going to touch on that, but I think it's mostly, uh, you know,
00:44:54.020
like I said, I haven't seen it yet about him and, and he was a funny kid.
00:44:56.900
So, uh, I think it'd probably be a funny movie.
00:44:59.020
Are you participating in like, uh, they bring, you know, as a consultant to do anything with
00:45:03.240
Uh, I, I may, uh, you know, uh, take a look at it and, and see, make the decision after
00:45:07.840
that and, and help them with some marketing on it.
00:45:11.020
You know, when you, when you grow up in different cities, every city has its own culture.
00:45:16.240
I mean, I grew up in, uh, I lived in Tehran 10 years, right?
00:45:20.120
When I explain people what it's like growing up in Tehran and people say, come on, are you
00:45:26.900
You know, I lived in Germany in a city called Erlangen, right outside of Nuremberg.
00:45:32.560
So the culture growing up, there's a complete different thing.
00:45:35.260
I grew up in Glendale, California, which is like the, the capital of Armenians around
00:45:41.320
If you live in Glendale, there's more Armenians in Glendale than, you know, anywhere else except
00:45:48.320
I've lived in Kentucky, Tennessee, all over the place.
00:45:51.860
You know, the, the culture of Philadelphia and sports, because, you know, almost everybody
00:45:57.540
I talk to that's from Philadelphia, when it comes down to sports, they talk about it
00:46:03.740
I'd put Boston two, New York three is the way I put.
00:46:06.820
What makes Philadelphia this special when it comes down to sports?
00:46:12.860
It's a situation where Sunday at one o'clock, everyone's in front of the TV waiting for the
00:46:18.780
And I'll never forget, you know, I was dating a girl one time that was, you know, not really
00:46:25.080
And I'm at her house one o'clock and I'm like, you know, where's your dad?
00:46:28.440
Why aren't the Eagles, you know, what's going on here?
00:46:31.040
And it, it just was very rare that, you know, you're not a big, passionate Eagles, Flyers,
00:46:38.220
And, you know, it comes down to the, it's what everybody revolves around, you know, the
00:46:44.240
One of the questions I want to get into is the part about being asked that you fixed the
00:46:52.200
And obviously there was an investigation done with the FBI, Phil Scalia, I want to say the
00:47:02.920
What is the difference between fixing and gambling?
00:47:06.060
So you were convicted specifically for gambling, right?
00:47:10.380
You were not convicted for anything to do with fixing the game.
00:47:14.040
I think what the big misconception is, is people think that I was out there calling fouls
00:47:19.680
on Shaq and Kobe and LeBron and putting them to the bench to where I was betting on the
00:47:26.920
The situation was I was taking information of what the league office wanted to be called
00:47:31.680
in those games and who was going to be put at an advantage or a disadvantage or relationships
00:47:36.440
that existed with referees and owners or, or certain players.
00:47:40.740
Like you said, there was a time where Danny Crawford was one in 15 when he was refereeing
00:47:47.840
There were times where I knew, you know, Crawford was going to stick it to a certain
00:47:53.560
So with that information, you know, that's what I did and, and use that information.
00:47:58.660
It wasn't like I was going out using the whistle on a nightly basis to make sure, you
00:48:04.980
So, but you also say that most referees gamble in the NBA.
00:48:15.240
Are you saying like thousand dollar games, $500 games, $5,000 games?
00:48:21.740
What I meant by when they gamble is, you know, David Stern made the famous comment when,
00:48:26.580
when this story went down, I was a rogue referee.
00:48:30.160
Legal gambling will cost you your job because it was in our contract.
00:48:34.120
And illegal gambling will cost you your freedom.
00:48:36.320
And he didn't realize at that time that, you know, probably 55 out of 58 NBA referees
00:48:42.280
gambled, whether it was on the golf course, you know, we all went to the casinos, we went
00:48:47.700
You know, we did, a lot of us gambled on football games, even amongst each other.
00:48:51.800
So I think he really had to backtrack and, and realize that, you know, what he said was
00:48:57.560
wrong, but he couldn't fire 55 out of 58 referees because they, they gambled, even though that's
00:49:04.500
Let's look at a couple of the numbers, because I know based on what I see is the NBA investigated
00:49:12.680
And out of the 17 games, if I remember this correctly, only one came where you called two
00:49:20.960
I'm sure you know this because you read it yourself and you're seeing it yourself.
00:49:24.500
And then ESPN, the magazine went and investigated 40 games of that season.
00:49:29.180
And I think the breakdown on the 40 games is 10 was a blowout.
00:49:31.960
And then 23 out of 30, the calls favored the people and the teams that you bet on, or you,
00:49:45.040
Three of them went against and four was, you know, it is, it is what it is.
00:49:51.980
But when you look at those rates, you know, they came back with the numbers saying that's
00:49:59.680
And so ESPN and magazine's claim is, no, he did fix the game.
00:50:04.080
He was pulling the calls in a direction where the people that were betting would favor them.
00:50:09.440
What do you say to that when that number comes back?
00:50:11.760
I mean, how do you process that yourself when you see that?
00:50:14.460
Well, first of all, I don't know that those numbers are true, but just let's say that
00:50:19.980
The FBI and the NBA both did a investigation going through every tape.
00:50:25.300
Trust me, if the prosecutors could have charged me with fixing games, they would have done
00:50:29.600
They, you know, wanted me to go to jail for a long time.
00:50:37.780
Because when I was being questioned about, they asked me, you know, a number of times.
00:50:43.700
And I think at the end of it, when they stood up in court and said that, you know, a lot
00:50:49.600
of my allegations didn't hold water in order to support the NBA, when I was saying that
00:50:55.140
certain referees were doing certain things in a playoff series, you know, they said that
00:51:03.220
I just think if the prosecution had any say in it, and the NBA, that I would have went
00:51:09.540
I think the FBI agents who did the investigation realized that I was telling the truth at every
00:51:14.720
And that's why Phil Scala wrote the foreword for the book.
00:51:17.800
You think David Stern wanted you to go to prison for life?
00:51:21.000
I think that he wanted me to definitely disappear.
00:51:23.060
Because I think that, you know, when my attorney, John Laurel, filed a lot of the motions in court
00:51:28.700
and started giving certain examples, it caused a lot of problems for the NBA.
00:51:32.960
So I think at some point he realized that, you know, I was going to start to talk.
00:51:38.920
And help me process this and tell me, you know, if you agree or disagree.
00:51:43.600
The way I see it is, you know, what happened with the NFL when a movie came out regarding
00:51:50.940
And then they showed data afterwards, numbers and families with household income above $150,000
00:51:58.000
started pushing their kids away from playing football because they don't want their kids
00:52:05.160
If it did come out that you did fix the game, if it did, wouldn't that have hurt NBA's credibility
00:52:12.700
and reputation if there is a referee that did fix the game?
00:52:19.380
Because it's on his watch and he's supposedly monitoring this whole thing.
00:52:23.640
So, yeah, it would have been an embarrassment and a black eye.
00:52:27.060
And then that would have hurt the game, fans, numbers, owners, volume, advertising.
00:52:34.360
There was a, because at that time he was running an organization.
00:52:36.940
When you're running a company that's a $4 billion franchise, you have to look at the
00:52:40.320
profits, the numbers, you know, you have clients, you have customers, you have owners.
00:52:43.680
So for me, it almost goes back to the situation where you're saying, you know, Jordan would
00:52:48.700
give autographed shoes to that one ref and he puts it in his restaurant or such and such
00:52:52.820
person has lobbying with the refs to build a relationship.
00:52:56.820
Wouldn't a David Stern be lobbying at the top with people in the government to kind of,
00:53:11.280
Let's just make sure this guy goes to and does his time 15 months and we'll leave him
00:53:19.740
Wouldn't there be a possibility of a conversation like that with Stern?
00:53:24.480
In fact, John Laura called the league office and said, hey, listen, we would like to come
00:53:28.140
in and speak with you and go over, you know, what Tim early on, what Tim actually did.
00:53:32.960
You know, I wanted to help them and show the cracks in their, you know, cement, so to speak,
00:53:40.140
And then afterwards, you know, he said a lot of things and took my, you know, retirement
00:53:46.440
money away from me and did a lot of things with the restitution that, you know, made it,
00:53:52.840
Made it difficult for you to survive, but did it hurt the NBA brand?
00:53:56.800
Because if I own a team, I'm competing against 20, how many NBA teams are there right now?
00:54:06.300
But if I'm Stern, I'm competing with three other teams.
00:54:19.520
Maybe not MLB because MLB is different as well.
00:54:25.020
So, and at that time, you know, everybody knows what happened with baseball in the 90s
00:54:35.740
Like when I watch it saying, okay, from what you tell me, if I'm an attorney, if I'm a jury,
00:54:40.480
if I'm a judge, if I'm whatever I'm doing, I'm sitting there saying, okay, if you're getting
00:54:44.000
two grand a pop, if you call a couple calls here and there, you may say, Pat, I'm telling
00:54:49.800
Maybe emotionally you're vested on the 23 out of 30 games.
00:54:54.380
I definitely don't want that to be public if I'm Stern because that's going to hurt the
00:54:59.300
So then it makes me go back and look at and say, well, if that is the case, how many of
00:55:05.260
the owners are sitting there and saying, look, and if this is happening, because right
00:55:07.480
now, look who's pissed off today, this season, Paul George.
00:55:12.140
Here's a guy that could potentially win the MVP this season.
00:55:16.300
Harden's probably not going to win it this year.
00:55:17.760
Westbrook's probably not going to win it this year.
00:55:19.200
Anthony Davis is definitely not going to win it.
00:55:30.960
But some of these complaints they're making, you're sitting there watching and saying,
00:55:34.500
look, man, I mean, it just, is there some of it going on?
00:55:38.080
So my question for you would be, do you think there's any fixing of the game going on today
00:55:44.920
I know you're an outsider now looking and you're not in the circle anymore.
00:55:48.040
I'm sure none of these referees can talk to you because you're probably the anti-you-know-what.
00:55:53.080
You better not be talking to, you know, yourself or else.
00:55:56.720
I would just assume most industries do it that way.
00:55:58.860
If somebody is a former FBI guy that went, you know, whatever rogue, you can't talk to
00:56:03.320
that guy because if you do, you're going to lose your job with us because we don't trust
00:56:07.640
Let's just say if I'm thinking that, do you think there's anybody fixing the game today?
00:56:12.680
I don't think they're fixing games, but I think there's so much subjectivity still in
00:56:17.300
I think there's situations where relationships are positive and negative, and I think it
00:56:25.160
Chris Paul and Scott Foster just got into it recently, and, you know, I think that when
00:56:30.440
Foster has the opportunity, he's going to continue to stick it to them.
00:56:35.380
It's okay because the league allows it to continue to happen.
00:56:40.080
You know how NFL, here's what I like about what the NFL has done, okay, and you know where
00:56:44.840
There's some of the stuff that they have, you can go back through the red flag and, you
00:56:49.740
know, we're going to review this, or we're going to do that, and we're going to do
00:56:52.100
that, why can't they kind of go a little bit more into that?
00:56:55.940
Is it because it's going to slow down the game?
00:56:58.900
I think that's where it's heading, and I think it has to be done.
00:57:01.400
If you look at officiating in all the major sports, name me one hockey referee.
00:57:12.760
The NBA is the only league that you can continually name the referees because there's always,
00:57:22.100
You can spread the games out so that the players don't see the same referees on a continuous
00:57:27.880
Look at, honestly, I can't stand watching boxing at all.
00:57:31.540
You know, you saw it again with Triple G, the first fight versus Canelo.
00:57:35.220
Oh, this referee scored it seven, whatever the score was, five, I don't know what, four
00:57:40.240
to eight or five to seven the way they scored it, and you lose trust.
00:57:45.280
I watch UFC because at least UFC, you know who's going to be winning it.
00:57:48.340
There's some credibility, even though a big personality guy like Dana White is running
00:57:53.200
it, which you know there's some politics involved with him because he's a power guy.
00:57:56.920
You have to listen to the way he runs the show.
00:58:00.080
I still trust the results of UFC way more than I do basketball.
00:58:04.820
And even like for me, a question for you, I'm curious to know what you said about this
00:58:08.180
because I saw you the other day, you were standing by the computer and TV and you were
00:58:13.740
I think it was a Dwayne Waite call or some game it was that you were saying.
00:58:17.060
This one, it should have been, it was a Miami game, I think it was.
00:58:19.500
I don't know which one it was, but I just saw it.
00:58:21.980
The Golden State Warriors, they're facing Cavs, okay?
00:58:25.400
And it's the season where they went 73-9 and the whole Draymond Green situation that took
00:58:35.540
Do you think a one-game suspension is granted for something like that for Draymond?
00:58:41.760
Like why did they suspend him for a game in the finals?
00:58:44.780
I think it depends on who was up and down in the series.
00:58:47.400
I think if Golden State would have been down in the series, there would have been no suspension.
00:58:53.320
But, you know, if they're up in the series, there's a suspension.
00:58:56.360
Because it takes a good player away off the floor and it allows for the series to go on
00:59:05.540
You know, I just think it's a situation where even Stu Jackson, who used to have Vandaway's
00:59:11.140
job, would say when he went to suspend somebody, especially during the playoffs, David Stern
00:59:18.240
And it all depended on what the situation was with the series at the time.
00:59:22.260
So it was so much, you know, subjectivity on what the circumstance was.
00:59:32.560
And that's why they're always going to have problems until they figure out a way.
00:59:36.100
Because that's a no, because that's a four-peat.
00:59:38.980
And no one's done a four-peat in a long time since, what, Celtics?
00:59:41.220
I think the only team that a four-peat was, what, the Celtics?
00:59:45.120
There's a big difference between a two-peat and a four-peat.
00:59:48.060
And they don't even have a three-peat, depending on if they win this year, which they have a lot
00:59:56.140
And I think every year you have to get rid of the ones that, you know, call percentages
01:00:02.860
And that way the players and the fans and the owners will see that there's some turnover.
01:00:07.780
But Kiki made the decision, not referees, to give the one-game suspension, right?
01:00:16.680
I think, you know, Stu Jackson came out and said, you know, when it gets to that point that,
01:00:23.700
I mean, I don't know how you feel about that, but that's disappointing.
01:00:27.300
I got some other questions, a complete different direction I want to go into with you.
01:00:30.900
And I'm curious to know what you're going to say about this.
01:00:32.420
So what do you think about steroids in sports or PED in sports?
01:00:36.580
Like, you know, GH, you know, growth hormone, steroids in football, steroids in baseball.
01:00:42.960
What do you think about steroids and additional things that people are using in sports?
01:00:47.100
You know, I think it puts them at an unfair advantage, you know, for the people that aren't doing it.
01:00:52.400
So I think it's tough that you have to really regulate it to make sure that everyone's playing under the same, you know, rules and field.
01:01:03.680
No, I think that you have to make it illegal because I think it sends a bad message to the kids.
01:01:09.220
Because, you know, if you do this, you know, which is probably hurting your lifespan that, you know, you're going to be able to end up like these guys.
01:01:19.580
So some of these guys are coming and saying, look, I'm playing football, man.
01:01:22.000
I'm getting my ass kicked and I'm being hit by a 330-pound person.
01:01:24.860
I kind of need my body to be a little bit stronger.
01:01:26.740
I need a little bit of GH to be able to handle this.
01:01:29.840
You don't know what it's like to be hit head on with a freaking helmet that can crush anybody's skull.
01:01:35.040
And, you know, this guy's on something and I'm not to be able to have that.
01:01:38.940
So I ask this question because it leads me to a whole different thing.
01:01:42.300
You think Canseco did the right thing by coming out and telling everybody's story about who was doing what and who was doing this?
01:01:51.760
I think he was, you know, fed up with the way it was the direction that it was heading.
01:01:56.380
And he wanted to, you know, come out and say his side of it because I think it was obvious that, you know, he definitely was on steroids.
01:02:03.760
So with that, I think he just wanted to make sure everybody else knew what was going on.
01:02:10.980
I think it took a little bit of excitement out of the game because at that time, you know, it was all those home runs were flying out of the park.
01:02:19.580
But I think in the big scope of things, I think it, you know, it helped the younger generation that they took that out of the game.
01:02:26.580
You know, I think that the league, to be honest with you, came up with a different way of trying to keep that excitement.
01:02:33.580
And we all know they say that the balls are juiced now.
01:02:36.160
So, you know, don't do the steroids because the ball is going to go out of the park anyway.
01:02:41.600
So, you know, they came up with a different avenue to keep that excitement in there.
01:02:45.820
So I think there's always going to be situations that fans are going to question, you know, what's being done and how it's being done.
01:02:53.520
As a fan, as an outsider, I don't know if you're a baseball guy or not.
01:02:58.000
So did that do anything to you about the opinion of the game in baseball?
01:03:02.040
Did you look at it and say, I trusted more, I trusted less?
01:03:12.840
I think he, you know, belongs in the Hall of Fame.
01:03:15.120
I think he should be judged for what he did on the field during his playing days.
01:03:20.980
He's finally come to the point where, you know, he said that he, you know, he did what he did.
01:03:25.700
And I think that he should be given that opportunity.
01:03:28.500
I hope he does while he's still here that, you know, he makes it into the Hall of Fame
01:03:32.360
because I think he's somebody that, you know, deserves it.
01:03:35.820
And I think it would really, you know, change his life.
01:03:38.640
How many times has the NBA or have any owners reached out to you to want to hire you as a consultant
01:03:47.600
I know this is a crazy idea, but has anybody from the NBA office, front office, or any sports team,
01:03:56.520
I'm just asking, has anybody from the league ever reached out to you, considered to employ you?
01:04:03.820
I had had conversations with one owner early on, and unfortunately it fell through.
01:04:10.260
And, you know, I thought it was going to be something that I was going to do, but it didn't work out.
01:04:14.220
If I am the NBA and I hired you as a consultant, what could you bring in value to the NBA?
01:04:21.260
Would you be able to identify areas where the integrity of the game would be going higher?
01:04:29.560
You have to look at it from an experience and referee perspective of what referees are
01:04:34.720
doing on the floor, who they're talking to during timeouts, before the game, who they're
01:04:40.480
You know, and all of that from a perception-wise, other referees, you know, will pick that up
01:04:46.940
because they know maybe this guy's, you know, getting in a position to try and get a call.
01:04:52.900
You know, other players will look over and see, why is he talking to that guy and he's not
01:04:57.160
An owner or a coach will look over to timeout and say, why is he talking to that guy and
01:05:02.700
And then what happens after that series and the next couple times down the floor?
01:05:12.800
There's just a lot of things that you have to look at in regard to...
01:05:19.600
I think I could show them the mistakes that the referees are making or what they're calling
01:05:25.400
so that they could go over that in practice in regard to prepare for certain referees and
01:05:32.580
Or look at the league office and see what they're telling the referees to call and make sure that
01:05:37.760
their players are doing things the right way and enforcing what the referees are being told
01:05:48.740
They have a webpage and they're sending out plays to these referees and telling them to
01:05:53.500
How big of an impact could you make points-wise per game?
01:05:55.620
I think that, you know, we talked about this at lunch.
01:05:57.380
I think there's no doubt, you know, if you know the tendencies of the referees and you
01:06:01.920
know what they're calling, that there could be a difference of two, three, or four points
01:06:05.120
if you are aware of not doing what they're going to call.
01:06:08.820
You take four points times 82 games, that's 328 points, something like that.
01:06:13.460
That could cost you like three, four, five games.
01:06:15.920
That could be eight playoffs, sixth, you know, eight spot, 10 spot.
01:06:24.020
Would Adam Silver be okay if I, one of the sports owners, hired you as a consultant?
01:06:29.560
I think that early on I was going to have a job with one of the owners and I think that
01:06:44.960
I remember the movie with the FBI agents with the money, right?
01:06:49.840
He's the guy that had eight different identities.
01:06:56.060
I wouldn't say he was a lawyer and he would go to the banks and get checks, all these weird
01:07:01.200
And eventually the FBI finally said, what the hell is this guy doing?
01:07:05.280
And later on, the federal government hired him.
01:07:08.140
Because if he knows how this works, man, we are going to be able to catch everybody else.
01:07:15.900
He's the market crash guy on what he did and how he manipulated the stock market and made
01:07:29.160
So think about the, like, this is like you're going after the biggest market manipulator and
01:07:34.480
you're hiring him as a president to become the guy running SEC.
01:07:41.020
He ran it because he knew what everybody would be doing.
01:07:44.260
And then FDR was able to clean up the financial industry with the manipulation that was taking
01:07:53.540
So Joe Kennedy, Frank Abingale, you know, there's a lot of guys that come in.
01:07:57.060
And I think from an outsider looking in, if Joe Kennedy gets hired by FDR, if FBI and the
01:08:03.620
federal government hires Frank Abingale, if you got, if you got these kinds of things
01:08:07.760
going on, what about if Adam Silver or somebody came in and said, hey, we're going to make
01:08:16.440
People can think we're crazy, but we are hiring Tim as a consultant and he's going to
01:08:22.760
come in and he's going to do X, Y, Z to clean house and kind of show us stuff that he can
01:08:29.560
What would you think if you got a weird call from front office or somebody said, listen,
01:08:33.920
we would like to talk to you about possibly bringing you in, but here's some of the arrangements.
01:08:42.700
I mean, you talk about, you know, my love of basketball and growing up and making it to
01:08:48.880
I'd be foolish not to, you know, want to entertain that, but I don't think it would
01:08:55.180
You know, possibly maybe one of the other sports leagues, I think it would be an opportunity
01:08:59.200
or maybe, you know, an individual team, but I just don't think the NBA would do that just
01:09:05.220
based on the black eye and rightfully so that I did and I put on the league.
01:09:10.260
So, you know, I wouldn't be waiting for that phone call, to be honest with you.
01:09:15.100
I think it's a possibility one of the teams in the NBA, but I think it would be something
01:09:20.320
that would not be publicized, that it would be, you know, behind closed doors that I could
01:09:26.740
I know there's been some retired referees that have done that for, you know, a lot of
01:09:32.780
Just by sitting down with you and having a conversation, I'm like, oh my gosh.
01:09:35.300
I mean, I would want to know that as an owner, especially if I'm in a smaller market guy,
01:09:40.880
not even the bigger market guys, because the bigger market guys, they don't need it.
01:09:44.180
They already got the favoritism going for them, right?
01:09:47.920
If you think about it, who does the NBA want in the finals this year?
01:09:59.460
You're not going to want Milwaukee because in one way, if Milwaukee wins, Giannis is staying.
01:10:04.640
Do you really want Giannis staying in that market or do you want Milwaukee losing and
01:10:12.460
You know, I don't know if I want him to stay over there, but I don't know.
01:10:14.800
I just look at it from the standpoint of if this is a game of having an edge, if Bezos
01:10:19.160
goes out there and hires some interesting people to give him an edge, former FBI agents, you
01:10:22.980
know, former people like that, why are you hiring former FBI agents?
01:10:32.680
I would hate for a documentary or a movie to be made about your story.
01:10:37.300
So let's just say somebody sees this because, you know, these interviews, sometimes they
01:10:42.460
We ended up getting 10 million views between a couple interviews.
01:10:45.260
One was 6.2 and another one's like 2.2 and one in Russian is like a million and then
01:10:50.900
A&E contacted him, show in Vegas, all this other stuff.
01:10:53.480
I would, if I'm the league, I am much more excited about hiring you than allowing somebody
01:11:01.400
from Hollywood to reach out to you and make a movie about this, like Concussion, because
01:11:05.020
I think that movie is going to hurt the NBA more than the NBA hiring you and signing a
01:11:11.280
10-year contract with you as a consultant to keep you in as long as XYZ stuff you agree
01:11:20.700
I would make a hell of an agent, but I'd run a company, but that would be my approach.
01:11:24.680
So let's do a lightning round and then we'll wrap up and we'll talk about the book and
01:11:31.040
First word that comes to mind or whatever thing you want to say about him.
01:11:34.800
First one, one of your best friends in the world, David Stern.
01:11:57.440
I just think he, I've never met somebody night in and night out that could be so miserable.
01:12:02.220
It just, it was never a smile or, you know, in a good mood.
01:12:06.880
It just seemed like it was no matter what, whether he was up 20 or not, he just seemed...
01:12:16.540
What was the first three words you thought about before you said good guy?
01:12:20.840
It's tough, but he, you know, to be honest with you, he's a giving guy to the community
01:12:25.640
and he really gives back and, you know, would take the shirt off his back for people.
01:12:39.880
I'm trying to think on the floor or off the floor, but on the floor, nuts.
01:12:48.060
I just know him from what he does now, but I think it's a different take on what David
01:12:55.920
I think, you know, professional, likable, seems to want to just do things the right way.
01:13:09.960
Well, so look, if you thought today's interview was interesting, we haven't even gotten into
01:13:16.120
He had an incident one time with Barkley in the locker room with, I mean, you just have
01:13:22.080
A couple incidents with Jordan and Phil Jackson, which was pretty epic, and a lot of other stories.
01:13:26.520
If you're an NBA guy, you want to hear it from his perspective.
01:13:29.160
But, you know, one of the things you were telling me about, why don't you talk a little
01:13:33.040
Tell me what this Ref Picks website, RefPicks, P-I-C-K-S dot com, right?
01:13:38.700
So it's a website for people that gamble casually.
01:13:43.720
We basically guide them through the pitfalls of, you know, traps to stay away from.
01:13:49.160
And I put out NBA picks based on the referees and the relationships that exist.
01:13:53.740
So if you're, you know, into betting on the ballgames as a form of entertainment, you
01:13:58.600
know, we guide you through, you know, how to hopefully be a winner and not a loser.
01:14:02.680
With that being said, Tim, thank you so much for coming out here and being a guest on Valuetainment.
01:14:08.880
And by the way, if you haven't already subscribed to Valuetainment on iTunes, please do so.
01:14:16.280
And if you have any questions for me that you may have, you can always find me on Snapchat,
01:14:24.360
And I actually do respond back when you snap me or send me a message on Instagram.