Remember how David Stern continually denied Tim Donaghy's accusations that a lot of NBA refs were dirty? Yeah, that was fun. Pretty much no one believed Stern - partly because he's a fraud, and partly because the FBI had already been investigating longtime horrible ref Dick Bavetta for similar questionable activities.
In other words, Donaghy's claims do seem to have some credibility, despite the fact that Stern insists the league is clean. So, if the league is clean, why did Stern today just hire United States Army Maj. Gen. Ronald L. Johnson to be the senior vice president of referee operations?
Let me just make this clear. This is a position that has never before existed in the NBA, and on top of that, Johnson has no - I repeat, NO - background in pro basketball at all. Nothing fishy about that at all, no sir. The league is fine!
Said Johnson in a prepared statement.
"Although I don't have a basketball background, other than as a lifelong fan, I am confident that my experience as an Army commander and engineer has equipped me to bring leadership and innovation to the NBA's exceptional officiating program."Right. I think what you're going to be is the guy that makes sure no one else finds out that there are more Donaghy's in the NBA than we originally thought. And you'll do that by getting the refs to drop and give you 20 every time they make a questionable call.
Hey, I'm all for this if it cleans up the horrible reffing in the game. But if there's one thing I know, it's that no one ever calls in the Army when things are going fine. You call in the Army to bust heads or intimidate people. Or both.
And if I were an NBA ref, I'd definitely be intimidated. And less likely to put $200 down on the game I'm reffing.
Nothing Is Wrong In The NBA, So Here Comes The Army [Slanch Report]
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