A Black Cloud Over The NBA

In what can be called nothing less than shocking, it was revealed today that the FBI is investigating allegations that veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy bet on basketball games. These basketball games apparently were during the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons, including ones in which he officiated. And we all thought Bud Selig had it rough. I'm sure he is jumping up and down with joy now that this story broke. What does David Stern do at this point? Even if Tim Donaghy is cleared of any wrong doing just the fact that he was being investigated for point shaving and manipulating professional basketball games will always be a black eye for the NBA. And let's be honest with one another though, much like the Mike Vick incident, the fact that the Federal Government has seen fit to release this to the media proves to me beyond a reasonable doubt that their is enough evidence to hurt this guy. Also there is the notion of what will NBA conspiracy theorists come up with after all is said and done with this incident. I mean it's inevitable that people will start watching what the referees do a lot more closely in games. These guys are going to be picked apart like grilled chicken. Greg Anthony said it best on ESPN.com, "So when we see Joey Crawford situations come up in the future, it's going come under far more scrutiny and speculation." It will be inetersting what kind of damage control David Stern tries to use but I have a feeling it's not going to do much at all to sway the minds of basketball enthusiasts.