Tim Donaghy, the disgraced former NBA official who was forced to resign in 2007 and later served time in prison for his role in a gambling scandal, said Monday he thinks the NBA suspended Warriors center Draymond Green to prolong the NBA Finals.
Green will miss Game 5 Monday night after being assessed a Flagrant 1 foul — bringing a mandatory one-game suspension — for hitting Cavs star LeBron James in the groin in Friday's game. The Warriors lead the best-of-seven series three games to one.
Donaghy told Sports Illustrated the league has overlooked similar acts by Green in the past.
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“I think when you look at the overt acts that Green has committed before, they were definitely more severe than this act, and yet he’s going to end up with a flagrant foul and suspension because of it,” Donaghy said, via SI Now. “In the past, I believe it was disregarded because (the Warriors) were down in the series. Here, they’re up in the series, so I think it’s a situation where, with that, it gives Cleveland a better chance of prolonging the series.”
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This isn't the first time Donaghy has made such allegations about the NBA manipulating outcomes. In a 2008 court filing, he alleged the NBA encouraged referees to call bogus fouls to affect results, and that refs were discouraged from calling technical fouls on the league's marquee players. He also alleged that the results of the 2008 NBA Finals between the Lakers and Celtics were manipulated to boost TV ratings and attendance.
Former NBA commissioner David Stern said at the time Donaghy made those claims in a bid to get a lighter sentence.
Donaghy pleaded guilty in August 2007 to conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting betting information through interstate commerce. He spent more than a year in prison. After his release, he wrote the autobiography, "Personal Foul: A First-Person Account of the Scandal That Rocked the NBA."