As David Stern once said, Tim Donaghy is a, “rogue, isolated criminal.” However, the investigation of Donaghy has shown that he made over 100 calls to another referee, Scott Foster, during the time period in which he admitted to giving information to gamblers and betting on games.
If Foster and Donaghy were in cahoots, then it would open up a large discussion in the NBA about whether gambling is widespread or an isolated incident. Commissioner Stern wants everyone to believe that there was only one bad apple, if Foster is found to have bet on games or help gamblers as well, then there would be no reason to believe him and anything could be possible. If these 2 referees swung games in a certain direction, then the games in this years finals could have been purposefully officiated to get a certain outcome. It is all unknown, and Stern could be about to shoot himself before we know it.
If Foster is guilty, people will start to question every call that could have gone either way, or any call that just seemed like an honest mistake by a ref. Referees are obviously not expected to get everything right, but now we may never know if they are just wrong or if they have something riding on the game.
Tim Donaghy accusations about the fixing of games by other refs is yet to be proven true or false, but if Foster is dirty, then Stern’s accusations that Donaghy made these statements to cover his own ass will not be taken seriously. If it is proven that Donaghy is not the only one, the public will believe anything as possible.
David Stern is praying Foster was not involved in any sort of gambling, but if Foster is, check Stern into a mental institution immediately.
Good follow-up, Alex.