NBA Refs Off the Hook?

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

I think the reason for the gambling ban is to prevent the appearance of anything fishy (or whaly, depending on your interpretation). By having the ban in place, they can stop problems before they get to become a PR nightmare.

IOW, draw the line in such a place that if it gets broken the only ones who care are "insiders."

Donaghy is proof that it's not perfect, but it's worked pretty well.

I think that trying to prevent the appearance of anything fishy is the problem. It's like the TSA in airports -- they make it LOOK like they are making us safe, when the reality is that all they are doing is making air travel a pain in the a$$ for 99.999% of travelers who are law abiding and not terrorists.

Instead of coming up with arcane rules like never going to casinos or never gambling, the NBA might want to direct their energies in another direction. I'd say that Donaghy is proof that the system didn't work at all. Thankfully for the NBA, the personal integrity of most of the officials is what prevents this sort of thing from happening.