NEW YORK -- Disgraced ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy tells "60 Minutes" the mob threatened his family to ensure he provided his insider picks to inform betting on games.
Donaghy "They basically told me that I needed to give them the picks and if I didn't, that it's a possibility that somebody would go down and visit my wife and kids in Florida," Donaghy says in his first interview since his arrest in the betting scandal, which airs Sunday night on CBS.
Donaghy says he bet on games based on his knowledge of other officials' biases for and against certain players and teams. Donaghy says he was winning 75 percent of the time, which drew the attention of the mob.
"I knew there were certain relationships that existed between referees and players, referees and coaches and referees and owners that influence the point spreads in games," he says.
True Hoop's Henry Abbott has some insights on what Tim Donaghy has to say in his newly published book. Blog
Donaghy again denies that he influenced any games he called to win a bet. NBA officials declined to participate in the piece but have denied similar allegations from Donaghy in the past, saying he is an untrustworthy source.
Donaghy wrote a tell-all book in prison, but Random House said in October it would not go forward with publishing it.Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months."We all have choices to make in life and when we decide to go down that wrong road we would be better off backing up. ... Not only do you affect your life ... but the lives of the people you love the most," he says.
I doubt he's in any serious danger or he would have already been taken out by now. Just by saying "the mob" no one really knows who he's referring to so it's not like he's stepping on anyones toes there, and unless David Stern decides to put out a hit to protect his companies image then he's probably safe.
True, but didn't the mob have someone break his legs in jail to keep him from talking at all? Yeah, if he named names its over for him
Here's the story you're referring to
http://deadspin.com/5287011/tim-dona...prison-updated
Disgraced referee Tim Donaghy will be released from prison next week and not a moment too soon. A press release says that while in the slammer he nearly had his legs broken by a New York mobster. (Update below.)
Donaghy is serving a 15-month sentence in Pensacola, Florida, for gambling on NBA games while serving as an NBA referee, which I guess is frowned upon. He will be released to a halfway house in Tampa, but it's not clear if the release is tied to an alleged incident in November of last year, when a mobster went to town on him.
The only evidence of the assault is this press release from a "prisoner advocacy group" that went to the media yesterday.
Donaghy's release date has recently been in question due to concerns about his medical condition. Donaghy was injured during an assault in November of 2008. During the assault, another inmate claiming ties to the New York mob beat Donaghy with a heavy object. Donaghy suffered severe knee and leg injuries that will require surgery.
Oh, man. I know that NBA fans consider the guy a de able low-life, but that sucks. It's like when you're watching Shawshank Redemption, doesn't some small part of you feel a tiny bit of pity for Bogs after Captain Hadley puts him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life? I mean, sure, the guy was a sadistic, psychopathic rapist, but that just ain't right. (Is it just me? Crickets?)
Anyway, moral of the story? Prison is the worst.
And then theres this update:
We just got an email from Pat Zaranek, of Executive Prison Consultants, with a little more detail on the "incident":
Here is what we know at this time regarding the incident in prison:
Tim Donaghy was attacked by another inmate claiming he had ties to the NY mob. Donaghy was threatened that he would be shot in the head and his knee caps would be broken. Donaghy suffered knee injuries that were confirmed via x-ray and an MRI taken 3-4 months after the attack. The attacker was removed from the facility and locked down in a higher level facility. The prison officials did not refer the attack to investigative authorities - they chose to handle it internally. Donaghy was placed on "protective status" which is known as Central Inmate Monitoring. This is done for inmates who face possible safety concerns.
The book he is writing is a "tell all" about his 13 years in the NBA and how he successfully picked winners of NBA games 70-80% of the time. It is about his knowledge of special relationships between referees and players and coaches, as well as the NBA's manipulation of games and playoff series. There will be more on the book at a later date.
Donaghy reportedly received a lesser sentence due to his "substantial" cooperation with authorities, but it's not clear if that meant selling mob-connected gamblers down the river or if this guy just lost a lot of money on Sacramento. Or it could just be a good old fashioned prison war. Maybe we'll find out in the book!
In case you're still wondering, Executive Prison Consultants "serves an advisory capacity for clients facing federal criminal charges, those who have already been charged, those facing incarceration, and those who are being released. We do not provide legal advice. Rather, our clients contract with us to help them navigate the many challenges they and their family will face when involved in the federal legal process." Look them up if you ever get sent to the hoosegow.
lol @ bogs
i wanna get the book, the league is definitely corrupt, whether it be by a collusion of individuals or random rogue referees.
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