Immunity.
The talk is about how much trouble Tim Donaghy is in; and what sort of punishment he faces at the hands of a federal prosecutor. But the fact is if he was involved with the mob he’s the small fish in this pond, and any good defense lawyer will know to take advantage of this fact; to have Donaghy tell all he knows in turn for a lenient sentence. And that’s going to include other refs and maybe players.
Stern took over a NBA that was just rebounding after a drug scandal plagued 70s, the idea of seeing his tenure end not as the most dominant pro sport commissioner; but instead as a Nero who worried about dress codes while his sport was being eroded from within by gambling has to the worst then any nightmare he could have had. Whether the NBA can rebound isn’t a question of if but when, but its going to be without Stern who at 64 has served one of the longer terms as a major sports head. Its hard to see him wanting to extend his tenure that long, besides it may be necessary for him to step down and let a fresh voice step in and handle the problem.
But who knows; maybe Donaghy was a lone bad seed. I really hope he is, I fear the effect this will have on basketball at all levels; but I’m not gonna hold my breath.
