Since we're not in the middle of the NBA season, the remaining fallout from the Tim Donaghy case is not getting quite the attention that it deserves, but I'll tell you this, it's still incredible interesting and entertaining.

You may remember that after Donaghy made his claims about NBA refs helping fix games for either gamblers or TV ratings, Stern called Donaghy a "rogue, isolated criminal."

Then we found out that Donaghy apparently wasn't a rogue, because he had tons of phone conversations with NBA ref Scott Foster before and after NBA games that strongly suggest Foster was also involved in influencing games.

And now we have this news.

Former FBI agent Philip Scala, the man who put away John Gotti, baby-sat Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, raided an Al Qaeda bomb factory and helped uncover the NBA betting scandal,says he believes Tim Donaghy told the truth.

Scala also said that he wasn't simply offering an opinion on Donaghy, but rather an informed assessment of his credibility after his unit conducted an exhaustive investigation.

As of this point in time, a number of people have simply tossed aside what Donaghy has said and claimed. People have even decided to look past the Scott Foster connection as well. Because there was no one to back up Donaghy, this was of course expected.

But now that one of the most respected FBI agents in the country - a man who specialized in organized crime - has said that he feels Donaghy was indeed telling the truth, everything suddenly becomes much harder to ignore.

Personally, I think Stern knows Donaghy is in fact correct on some level. Obviously, Stern doesn't anyone else to know that. But the more and more that keeps slipping out from this case, the less good it's looking for Stern.

Plus, Scala is going to be starting his own private investigation firm that will focus on uncovering sports corruption. So it's more than possible that Stern may ultimately wind up with Scala taking a much more in depth look at his league in the near future.
 
And by then, a simple "rogue, isolated criminal" excuse may no longer fly.

Ex-FBI big bets on Donaghy: NBA dirt charges true, Gambino squad vet says. [NY Daily News]