BETRAYAL!

Other than summer league action and the upcoming Tournament of the Americas coming up in late August, I didn't see much NBA news to write about this week. Whoops, spoke too soon. I want to personally thank referee Tim Donaghy for providing what could be the biggest story the NBA has ever seen. That's right. I said EVER.

All this story has done is bring to light what fans have been saying for years; NBA games are fixed. Fans have thought it for years, only they didn't perceive the source of this rigging to be the referees, but Commissioner David Stern and the league office. Fans believe that the NBA wants teams from larger TV markets to not only make the playoffs, but to advance deep into the playoffs resulting in higher TV ratings for TNT, ESPN and ABC. We all know that the league needs higher ratings! In light of this latest scandal, David Stern can only yearn for the days when this aforementioned conspiracy theory was its fans biggest gripe. Stern is obviously sick to his stomach trying to deflect any question that will undoubtedly come his way over the next few months. "We will bring to justice any individual who has betrayed the most sacred trust in professional sports and will take the necessary steps to protect against this ever happening again."

Can you imagine the fan reaction in arenas this upcoming season every time a questionable call is made against their team? What about the player reaction? What about Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban? I can't wait to see his 2007-08 Dallas Mavericks in-game T-Shirt collection! I Remember a quote from Chris Webber after losing the 2002 Western Conference Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3, "We won this series 5 games to 4." - An obvious shot at the refereeing of that series, in which beat writers across North America openly questioned calls and no-calls that seemed so blatantly one-sided that Ray Charles could have picked up on it.

After recent events concerning National Football League players engaging in some questionable (to say the least) off-the-field behavior, I'm sure the NBA wanted to make an even greater effort to keep its image as clean as possible. Of course the players, fans and media are entitled to their opinion concerning this matter but this scandal has opened up a whole can of worms. One bad apple spoils the whole bunch. Thanks to Tim Donaghy, all referees will be looked at differently from now on. Las Vegas will never get an NBA franchise now. Fans watching on TV and in the stands will now be focused on 13 people instead of 10.

As mentioned last week, Montrealer Joel Anthony signed a summer league contract with the Miami Heat. Joel played quite well in Orlando doing what he does best; playing defense. Joel finished second in blocked shots (including six in one game!). Joel is resting up right now before joining Canada Basketball for the Tournament of the Americas coming up in late August in Las Vegas (where he played college ball). I will follow Joel's progress and keep the updates coming as I receive them. Good luck Joel!