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6/17/08
Did Dick Bavetta Throw The Race Against Barkley Race At The 2007 All-Star Game?
Fixing More Than Just the NBA Finals
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NBA


With the news last week of Dick Bavetta being investigated by the FBI into his possible involvement in the "fixing" of games if you will, it got me thinking...Did Bavetta also possibly affect the outcome of a race against an almost 300 lbs Charles Barkley?

Let me take you back to about a month before the race. After Bavetta heard the statement that Barkley made about him being able to beat Bavetta in a foot race, Bavetta said that he would put $5,000 on the race, with the winner's money going to the charity of Barkley's choice. Seems rather suspicious of Bavetta to want to place a bet when referee's aren't allowed to gamble, even if it was for charity.

Think back to that race. Now are we really suppose to that an NBA official that needs to be in tip top shape would lose a race to an overweight former player, while the former player runs backward to finish the race? I think not. At the very end of the race was perhaps the most telling thing, as Bavetta dove across the finish line. Did Bavetta not only literally dive across the line but also figuratively "took a dive" and lost the race to Barkley?

Now you may be saying "Big deal, the old guy lost a race to a former athlete, that doesn't mean anything!" Well, let's hit the way-back machine to 1993. Michael Jordan and the Bulls were headed to the Finals for a third straight year after dispatching the Knicks in 6 games and were awaiting the winner of the Phoenix/Seattle Western Conference Finals. It was game 7, the NBA was one game away from a Barkley vs. Jordan matchup in the Finals, the Sonics were a young up and coming team, with a young and thin Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton, but it was Barkley's MVP season and the TV executives had to want the Barkley vs Jordan Finals. The Phoenix Suns set an NBA playoff record for free throws attempted with 64, while Seattle shot 36. Tim Donaghy thinks that is excessive. So with the 64 free throws, Phoenix goes on to win the game 123-110 and goes to the Finals to face Jordan and the Bulls in the dream Finals for 1993. Who was the head official for that game? Dick Bavetta.

So perhaps Dick Bavetta "helping" Phoenix win Game 7 and losing the race to Barkley is a coincidence. But maybe, just maybe a picture really is worth a thousand words:

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