Tim Donaghy interview with Dan Patrick

Here is a great interview with Tim Donaghy, former NBA referee. This was one of the most interesting interviews I have heard in a long time. It is provided by Dan Patrick. If you would like to listen to the interview you can get by clicking here: Dan Patrick.com

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Q&A with former NBA ref Tim Donaghy

DP: First game you fixed?
TD: Never fixed a game.

DP: But, you're betting on a game that you officiate in, right?
TD: That's correct.

DP: Did you call it straight?
TD: I did. It was a situation where I was so successful at betting on these games, it was a never a situation where I was out making calls in games to make sure one of these bets won. It was a situation where the FBI and even the NBA did a full investigation in regard to that, and they both concluded that there was never a time where I was making calls in these games to make these bets win.

DP: If you're betting on a game, Tim, why wouldn't you take the matter a step further, and fix the game to ensure that you won that game? If you were that deep into gambling.
TD: You know Dan, that's a great question. It's a question I get all the time. It's tough to answer, but the way I like to describe it is, I was so successful at making these picks, at 70 to 80 percent of the time. It was never a position where I was backed into a corner, and needed to go out in these games and make calls and send one of these star players in a game to the bench, like a Kobe Bryant, or a Dwyane Wade or a Steve Nash to help a team get a win.

DP: Ever asked to fix a game?
TD: No, I was actually never asked to fix a game. Again, because I was so successful, winning at 70 to 80 percent of the time, I think in my mind, and in the minds of the people I was dealing with, a loss every now and then kind of kept the heat off a little bit.

DP: How could you not at least look at the scoreboard and say, I got this amount of money, I've got to get my picks right, and we're 2 points or 1 point or 3 points away?
TD: No. Again, I think it was a situation to where I was extremely successful at doing it, and there was never an enormous amount of pressure on me to get a win. There was one situation where I told them to bet San Antonio, and in the first quarter I ended up throwing the coach of San Antonio out of the game. I did get a phone call later that night. But I reiterated to them that I wasn't out fixing the games or making calls to facilitate one of these bets coming through.

DP: So you throw out Gregg Popovich, and you've told them to bet on San Antonio?
TD: Yes.