NBA using referee betting scandal as “bogus reason” to stay out of mobbed-up Las Vegas

Could it be that the NBA and David Stern are secretly thrilled that one of their refs destroyed the integrity of the sport? Here’s what former Las Vegas Councilman and current gadfly Steve Miller has to say about the NBA’s Tim Donaghy problem:

According to INSIDE VEGAS contributor and former Chicago Crime Commission member John J. Flood, the NBA issue is not as it seems. The NBA desperately wants to have nothing to do with Las Vegas. The referee scandal is a bogus reason — one of many — given to conceal the actual problem. The real reason is that our city is represented by a mob-associated Mayor. Oscar Goodman’s organized crime background and current connections with O.C. will keep our city from being considered a legitimate home to professional sports teams until he leaves office hopefully in 2011.

There you have it. The NBA wants to avoid having a team in a city with a Mayor who appears to be mobbed-up to the gills. Luckily for them, one of their refs went and helped them out. And the Las Vegas Review-Journal is making sure everyone knows:

JOHN L. SMITH: NBA scandal prompts the usual media hand-wringing about Las Vegas

Veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy probably has a closet full of striped shirts. Now it appears he’ll be getting pants to match.

News that the NBA official was implicated in a cheating scheme makes me cringe, but not for the usual reasons.

Not because it’s surprising to learn a professional sports referee is susceptible to corruption. It’s no shock. In leagues where players and coaches make millions, officials are arguably the most vulnerable — especially if they have a heavy gambling Jones.

Not because it’s mortifying for the league’s image-conscious commissioner to admit one of his referees has been slow dancing with illegal bookies and aspiring knuckle-draggers, although it is. Surely Commissioner David Stern will have something glib to say on this matter.

The Donaghy news made me cringe for this reason: Whenever a betting scandal breaks, hand-wringing from the national media about Nevada’s legalized sports book industry soon follows. It never fails.

In this case, it took about five seconds for some writer to reach the conclusion that Las Vegas shouldn’t have an NBA franchise because an NBA referee has gambled.

Hello, Logic-Impaired Hot Line?

One example comes from Newsday’s Ken Berger, who instructed the NBA commissioner: “Here is the first thing Stern must do: Wipe Las Vegas off the NBA map for good.”

Oh, John L. Smith, you unwitting pawn of the man. It has nothing to do with gambling. It’s all about the Mafia.*

Read more of Steve Miller’s rants here.

–WKW

*The author would like to point out that he has no reason to believe the mafia actually exists, and in the off chance that they did, he’s sure they are fine fellows who deserve their own NBA Franchise if that’s what they really want.

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