TIM Donaghy “may be” the first NBA referee to have influenced a point spread and shared inside info with a criminal element, but whistle blowers have been gambling in casinos and at the track, as well as betting on sporting events (their own, too, I’d wager, though you can’t quote me) long before I began covering pro basketball in the late 1960s.
Rules forbidding gambling of any kind (exempting the track during the offseason) have been in force for many moons, but they’ve rarely, if ever, been enforced. As long as refs kept a low profile when playing craps or blackjack, whatever, at their favorite upscale hangout, nobody seemed to care enough to investigate.
That’s probably because so many other NBA-related people – players, coaches, general managers, league administrators, sports writers – were out and about doing their share of gambling.
We’re talking high-stake card games that take place on charters (out in the open when teams flew commercial), hotel rooms (late into the a.m. with a playoff game that night), bus rides (or trains when that was the mode of travel), in executive suites and behind closed doors in team offices. And what about all the green exchanging hands after the 18th green? And the football pools? And the lotteries? And on and on.
If you’re a referee, all of that is strictly prohibited. To engage in any of it could result in a suspension or dismissal.
If you were a player, coach, GM, Stu Jackson or David Stern, you were free to gamble your life away.
The fact the rule only applied to refs is one of the reasons the commissioner has decided, at long last, to eradicate the inequitable double standard . . . and 28 or so naughty refs thank him for it.
Now if only Stern would apply that same common sense to the league’s ridiculously rigid rule (automatic one-game suspension) regarding players who leave the bench (a step or two) during a disturbance.
*
By my count, Wednesday’s Ricky Davis–Antoine Walker swap (other auxiliaries were thrown in) is the first time a malcontent was dealt for a Mallomar.
Prior to Walker’s departure (by double-decker A328 Sky Bus) column contributor Bixby learned that Pat Riley had assigned Alonzo Mourning the unfeasible task of blocking out any carbs that might appear in Walker’s lane.
*
Chicago has had dialogue with the Lakers regarding Kobe Bryant, but proposals were not made. Do the Bulls want Bryant? Yes. Would they give up Luol Deng in a package? Not on Jerry Reinsdorf‘s life! John Paxson pictures Bryant and Deng as a reincarnation of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. But management has no intention of draining its assets to recreate such scintillating symmetry.
As currently constructed, the Bulls are one of the favorites to come out of the East, number one, in fact, in the minds of many. At the same time, they’re selling out. And they’ve got six championship banners flapping in the rafters.
If there’s no pressure to make a deal, why disrupt good karma? Why risk a chemical imbalance by importing a potentially selfish superstar carrying a conveyer belt of baggage? To keep a tough competitor in your conference from acquiring Bryant, perhaps; then it might make sense to take the plunge.
The Mavericks also have genuine interest in Bryant, but making a bad deal to get him does not interest them. Dirk Nowitzki is untouchable, according to Mark Cuban. Guaranteed, he’s not about weakening his team’s core, either.
Everybody with access to a computer, a microphone or a phone is guessing which teams are bidding and which players they’re offering.
For example, Dallas supposedly is using Josh Howard and Devin Harris (more likely Jason Terry; I can play this game, too) and a throwaway or two.
“That would not make us any better than they are and would remove two very viable young guys for an older guy with a ridiculous contract and a stained rep,” a Mavs official patiently explained. “We won 67 games and got to within two wins of a title without Kobe. That would leave us with no more stuff than he has to work with now and he can’t get them past the sixth rung on the Western ladder.”
Those are some of the basketball and harmonic impediments attached to the acquisition of Bryant. Now here are the financial complications:
Attracted suitors have enormous economic decisions to ponder. Bryant is owed $19.5 million, $21.3M, $23M and $24.8M (I’m simplifying the numbers) and owns an out after next season.
Kevin Garnett‘s agent squeezed the Celtics for $16.4M, $18.8M, $21.2M in return for the surrender of his escape clause. Bryant’s demands figure to dwarf that. Should the suitor not capitulate, there can’t be a deal. It’s doubtful any team would give up quality, if not its franchise player, with no assurance Bryant will stay beyond the next two seasons.
Oh, yeah, and then there’s Bryant’s trade kicker. Should he waive his early out, that means he’s on the books for four seasons and that entitles him to an extra $11M in one lump sum.
That’s almost enough to buy three new diamond rings and put ’em in escrow for a rainy stray.
*
If we said the “J.R.” in J.R. Rider stood for “Just Released” – and we did – then we’re saying the “J.R.” in J.R. Smith stands for “Just Remanded.”
It seems the Nuggets guard earned a team-imposed, three-game, beginning-of-the-season docking for the tired ol’ “conduct detrimental.”
Just Remanded’s latest charge of aggravated stupidity stems from an assault in a Denver nightclub earlier this month.
Smith, whose running of a stop sign during the summer cost his friend’s life, apologized to his teammates, the coaching staff and Nugget fans . . . by name.
This just in: Donaghy claims he was outed by Valerie Plame.