Results of the Pedowitz Report on the Integrity of NBA Officiating

This came in this afternoon.

                               PEDOWITZ REPORT RECOMMENDS
              SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO NBA OFFICIATING PROGRAM

   - No Additional Referees Found to be Involved in Criminal Activity -

NEW  YORK ,  October 2, 2008 - Lawrence B. Pedowitz issued his report to the
National Basketball Association regarding the league's anti-gambling rules,
policies,  and  procedures,  and  its officiating program.  Mr. Pedowitz, a
former  Chief  of  the  Criminal  Division  in the United States Attorney's
Office  for  the Southern District of New York, was appointed by the NBA to
review  and  make  recommendations  on  these  matters  in  the wake of the
indictment and guilty plea of Tim Donaghy.

Following   a   14-month   investigation,   Mr.   Pedowitz  made  extensive
recommendations to improve the league's anti-gambling rules and officiating
program.   The  116-page  report  reflects  the  recommendations  and other
findings  by Mr. Pedowitz and his colleagues from the law firm of Wachtell,
Lipton,  Rose  & Katz.  A complete copy of the Pedowitz Report is available
at http://www.nba.com/media/PedowitzReport.pdf.

The  recommendations  made  by Mr. Pedowitz were substantial.  They include
strengthening  the  NBA's anti-gambling rules, particularly with respect to
the  disclosure  of  confidential information; improving the enforcement of
these  rules  and  creating  a "culture of compliance" among all league and
team  employees,  including through the reorganization of the management of
the  referee  program and the creation of an anonymous hotline for gambling
information;  increasing  the  league's  monitoring of games for suspicious
activity;  and  increasing the league's efforts to eliminate the perception
of  referee  bias,  including by making more information publicly available
about the referee program and increasing access to the referees by fans and
media.

NBA Commissioner David Stern, commenting on the Report, said:

"We  are  very  appreciative  of  the  effort by Mr. Pedowitz and his staff
considering  the  extraordinary  nature  of  the review.  Mr. Pedowitz, who
together  with  his  team conducted approximately 200 interviews, was given
the  broadest  possible  mandate  and was provided unfettered access to our
employees,  records,  data and video library to ensure the independence and
thoroughness of his report.

"We  welcome  the  recommendations  from Mr. Pedowitz in areas where we can
improve - all of which will be adopted, and many of which have already been
adopted,  including  the  hiring  of  Army  Major  General (Ret.) Ronald L.
Johnson  as  the Senior Vice President, Referee Operations.  These measures
are  a beginning, not an end.  We know that the NBA's success hinges on the
integrity of our sport and on competition that allows teams to win based on
their  own skill and performance.  We expect nothing less from our referees
than the highest level of accuracy, professionalism and integrity.

"I have asked Mr. Pedowitz to continue his service by reviewing our program
at   the   end   of  the  season  to  ensure  that  it  comports  with  his
recommendations and aspires to the highest levels of integrity."

Along  with  his  recommendations,  Mr.  Pedowitz  reported  the  following
findings:

·     He found no evidence that any NBA referee other than Mr. Donaghy bet
on NBA games or leaked confidential NBA information to gamblers, and no
evidence that phone calls between referee Scott Foster and Donaghy were
attributable to criminal activity.

·     He found no evidence that any referee miscalled a game to favor a
particular team or player, or that the League has asked referees to call
games to favor particular teams or players.

·     He found no evidence to support specific allegations of game
manipulation or misconduct made by Mr. Donaghy and his attorney in June
2008, including allegations regarding a 2005 playoff series between the
Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets and a 2002 playoff series between
the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings.

·     He found that a number of referees engaged in forms of gambling other
than betting on NBA games, in violation of League rules.  The League
previously decided not to discipline referees for these violations.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)