Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2019 1:29 pm Post subject: Illegal sports betting and players + referees
Got this from reddit, it's almost required watching. He was talking about how players get in money trouble and have to shave points, and he talks about a hypothetical with the Lakers:
"You got a referee in an NBA game, okay. You got the Lakers now favorite to win by 10 points. It's Christmas time. This referee needs some extra money. A referee can call a foul every time these players move down the court or he doesn't have to call it if he misses it. He puts a bet against the spread. How does he manipulate that? He puts Lebron James on the bench with 2 extra, 3 extra fouls."
That's certainly possible. After Donaghy, a ref would need to be really careful about this sort of thing, because the NBA is watching. But sure, a clever enough criminal could pull it off for some period of time. There are too many scandals around the world to think otherwise.
Joined: 29 Aug 2004 Posts: 11197 Location: The Other Perspective
Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2019 2:22 pm Post subject:
I could see some Donaghy types do this kinda stuff. _________________ "Chick lived and breathed Lakers basketball…but he was also fair and objective and called every game the way it was played."
-from Chick: His Unpublished Memoirs and the Memories of Those Who Knew Him
Vegas are good at setting spreads, and because they just want action.
I’d imagine a rockets game would be the easiest to bet on because if the ref stop calling fouls against harden, rockets will lose every game
Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Posts: 22734 Location: La Jolla, San Diego
Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2019 2:53 pm Post subject:
If there are corrupt refs, they are loners. I don't believe there would be collusion with other refs. To describe Donahy as a rogue corrupt ref was true, but the word rogue is misleading. It implied that there were no more corrupt refs, when there could be. If I'm a corrupt ref, and put a wager on something, the foolproof way in not getting caught is to not collude and to just try and swing the game by myself.
here's Donaghy explaining the process of his corruptness and NBA refs pseudo-currputness. First minute he explains it. He wasn't as corrupt as he's made out to be - says he bet one way or another based on game by game normal ref emphasis, but also on ref-team relationships.. but he also said that Dick Bavetta was the game 6 ref who was always chosen to prolong a series.
https://youtu.be/g3xMmPht_gw here's Donaghy explaining the process of his corruptness and NBA refs pseudo-currputness. First minute he explains it. He wasn't as corrupt as he's made out to be - says he bet one way or another based on game by game normal ref emphasis, but also on ref-team relationships.. but he also said that Dick Bavetta was the game 6 ref who was always chosen to prolong a series.
That's what Donaghy said, but much of what he said does not hold up. A while back, there was an analysis showing that Donaghy's success as a bettor came on games that he personally officiated. The evidence was pretty strong that he favored the teams that he bet on. The stuff about referee assignments didn't hold up.
It is likely that Donaghy was just a point shaving ref who got busted and that most, if not all, of the other stuff was just an attempt at self-justification. The NBA is happy to go along with Donaghy's story because the alternative is admitting that a ref shaved points right under their noses. That's actually worse than thinking that you could make successful bets based on insider knowledge of ref assignments.
Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2019 7:26 pm Post subject: Re: Illegal sports betting and players + referees
drae wrote:
Got this from reddit, it's almost required watching. He was talking about how players get in money trouble and have to shave points, and he talks about a hypothetical with the Lakers:
"You got a referee in an NBA game, okay. You got the Lakers now favorite to win by 10 points. It's Christmas time. This referee needs some extra money. A referee can call a foul every time these players move down the court or he doesn't have to call it if he misses it. He puts a bet against the spread. How does he manipulate that? He puts Lebron James on the bench with 2 extra, 3 extra fouls."
Lots of people have similar opportunites to enrich themselves in their profession. Few of us take the risk that an NBA ref would be taking by betting on a game or faciliating those who were. Ref's are under a microscope with the league AND the Feds looking up their ass. Something like that you don't get fired. You go to prison.
I once got the chance to talk in depth about this matter with a guy who played 4 years of college ball and then 5-6 years in the NBA. He was a lottery pick who turned into a bust.
He openly admitted to taking money under the table during college and controlling the end of games because of the spread. He had a guy who used to pay him to do so. He was the focal point of his team's offense in college, so he managed to control most of the action. He said when he turned pro they wanted him to keep doing it, but he stopped doing so. He also said this happens a lot, and that pro players have way more financial trouble than we know, specially the younger ones. _________________ www.lakersbrasil.com
Fan site made by me and others, dedicated to posting Laker news and articles in portuguese.
Joined: 15 Sep 2012 Posts: 29150 Location: La La Land
Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 6:12 am Post subject:
Techs, charges vs. blocking calls, off ball defense, over the back, defensive 3 in the key, illegal screens. I could go on and on. These things are all up to reffing discretion.
I'm sure a ref has shaved points in a game. Heck the other refs in that game wouldn't even be 100% sure it was on purpose. And even if the clean refs do know. It's in their best interest to keep their mouths shut. _________________ "Every hurt is a lesson, and every lesson makes you better”
I like what Tim said about Dick.
Maybe Dick wasn't calling the game to purposely prolong games.
But something inside him just made for him to call games for the underdog?
The NBA could have looked at the data and just gone with refs who helped force game 7s.
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