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)