Stephen A. Smith | Gambling probe is worst blow for NBA

LAS VEGAS - Forget the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills and other troubling incidents over the last few years. Today, none of that means anything to the National Basketball Association. Not after learning that the FBI is investigating one of its referees for betting on games he officiated - with mob-connected bookies - tarnishing the sport in ways unruly behavior could never come close to doing.

Commissioner David Stern didn't have a word to say for many hours yesterday. The rest of the NBA, courtesy of a league-wide mandate, wasn't allowed to say anything. And considering the magnitude of the allegations against referee Tim Donaghy, it's appropriate that the first words are from the commissioner himself.

"As we previously stated, we have been cooperating with the FBI with their investigation of allegations that a single NBA referee bet on NBA games that he officiated," Stern said in a statement released yesterday afternoon. "As part of that cooperation, we were asked by the Government not to comment about the investigation. But in light of the widespread press coverage and the naming of the referee, Tim Donaghy, we consider it appropriate to make a fuller statement.

"We would like to assure our fans that no amount of effort, time or personnel is being spared to assist in this investigation, to bring to justice an individual who has betrayed the most sacred trust in professional sports, and to take the necessary steps to protect against this ever happening again. We will have more to say at a press conference that will be scheduled for next week."

Donaghy, 40, is a 1989 graduate of Villanova and an NBA official for the last 13 years. He allegedly had a gambling problem, one that involved his making calls on the court that affected the point spread.

The investigation has been going on for more than a year. Arrests are imminent. The league's integrity has been tainted, especially that of the National Basketball Referees' Association.

Stern repeatedly has heralded the NBRA as the best in the world. He could say that now and probably would be correct. But who would listen?

That's probably why, unlike the case involving Atlanta's star quarterback, Michael Vick, in which both the NFL and the Falcons have been conspicuously reserved for the moment, the NBA league office has issued no cautionary stance.

No words such as "allegedly" were in any paragraphs. If we are to take Stern's statement at face value, it appears as if the FBI and the league have the goods on Donaghy. The league would not confirm anything and the NBRA wouldn't return any phone calls regarding reports that the feds have Donaghy on tape betting on a game.

Their silence is understandable.

You don't convict Donaghy on this day. Like Vick, if guilty, his time will come. But considering that several NBA sources yesterday labeled him somewhat of a loner, disliked by the very governing body he was supposed to represent, and definitely by the National Basketball Players Association and many of the players it represents, it's fair to say we won't ever see Donaghy officiating an NBA game again.

"This is the same referee who got into an issue with Rasheed Wallace back in 2003, forcing him to get a seven-game suspension that cost him more than $1.3 million," one source closely connected to both Wallace and the players' union told me yesterday. "This is the same guy whom players invited to show up in the Bahamas for our annual meetings to discuss his attitude toward them, but it's never happened.

"He's disliked by a whole lot of people. He's viewed as a loner by other referees, separate from the pack. Still, absolutely no one assumed he would be involved with something like this. The entire NBA community has to be shocked."

Disgusted is more like it.

Player behavior can be governed with suspensions and by withholding pay. Since most of the players know how to act, it's usually not necessary. But while even loftier praise can be draped on an overwhelming majority of officials - most of whom were furious during several conference calls yesterday - what can be done to cleanse the stain on their image? Their integrity?

They are not the ones dunking or receiving all the adulation, after all.

They usually are the ones being blamed when the cheering stops.