This video reveals the story of Tim Donaghy, a former NBA referee who was involved in a significant betting scandal, betting on games he officiated. Despite earning a substantial salary and having his dream job in the NBA, Donaghy fell into gambling addiction. He managed to predict game outcomes with remarkable accuracy, owing in part to insider information about referees’ biases and NBA directives, although he insists his calls remained fair.

The video further explores how Donaghy’s activities led to entanglements with organized crime, which not only exposed his illegal betting but also put him and his family at significant risk. His association with the mob ultimately led to his downfall when the FBI caught wind of his activities via mob associations. Facing threats and a downfall, Donaghy cooperated with the FBI, contributing to a lesser sentence while exposing underlying issues in NBA refereeing.

Main takeaways from the video:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. confession [kənˈfɛʃən] - (n.) - A formal statement admitting that one is guilty of a crime. - Synonyms: (admittance, disclosure, admission)

Donaghy not only confessed his own sins to the FBI, he also blew the whistle on the NBA.

2. reprehensible [ˌrɛprɪˈhɛnsɪbəl] - (adj.) - Deserving censure or condemnation. - Synonyms: (disgraceful, culpable, shameful)

Mathis said your betting on NBA games was reprehensible.

3. inadvertently [ˌɪnədˈvɜrtəntli] - (adv.) - Without intention; accidentally. - Synonyms: (unintentionally, accidentally, involuntarily)

Donaghy told the FBI and us that NBA headquarters inadvertently helped him pick winners by sending refs instructions before a game.

4. euphoria [juːˈfɔːriə] - (n.) - A feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness. - Synonyms: (elation, delight, exhilaration)

I think it gave me a higher high because I was able to predict the outcome of the games, and winning picks is what excites you. euphoria. Real euphoria.

5. prosecutor [ˈprɒsɪkjuːtər] - (n.) - A legal official who accuses someone of committing a crime, especially in a court of law. - Synonyms: (attorney, district attorney, lawyer)

And as far as you know, you were the only ref who was placing bets? As far as I understand, yes.

6. betrayal [bɪˈtreɪəl] - (n.) - The action of betraying one's country, a group, or a person; treachery. - Synonyms: (disloyalty, treachery, backstabbing)

You were betraying your fellow referees? Unfortunately, yes.

7. felon [ˈfɛlən] - (n.) - A person who has been convicted of a felony. - Synonyms: (criminal, convict, lawbreaker)

NBA commissioner David Stern and other referees say that you have no credibility. You are a convicted felon.

8. exonerate [ɪɡˈzɒnəˌreɪt] - (v.) - To absolve someone from blame for a fault or wrongdoing. - Synonyms: (absolve, clear, acquit)

I'm not sure that they accepted it or not, but that was the information that I passed to them.

9. retribution [ˌrɛtrɪˈbjuːʃən] - (n.) - Punishment inflicted as vengeance for a wrong or criminal act. - Synonyms: (punishment, penalty, revenge)

And now that he's out, he is still worried about retribution from the mob.

10. dexterity [dɛkˈstɛrɪti] - (n.) - Skill in performing tasks, especially with the hands. - Synonyms: (adroitness, skill, agility)

None found.

Tim Donaghy - The ref who bet on NBA games - Legal sports betting hits U.S. - 60 Minutes Full Episodes

Tim Donaghy was at the top of his game, a referee in the National Basketball association. He loved the limelight, was considered one of the NBA's better refs, and was making almost $300,000 a year. But he was also living a secret life. During the last four years of his 13-year career, he committed a personal foul. He betrayed the fans and the league by betting on NBA games, including some he was officiating. Donaghy won about 75% of his bets, an incredible percentage confirmed by the FBI. Tonight, Tim Donaghy speaks out publicly for the first time, telling us why he bet on NBA games, how he won so often, and how his world collapsed and what a world it was.

It was your dream job. Yes. Why? I think I had an opportunity to run up and down the floor with the greatest athletes in the world. I just loved the game of basketball growing up. My goal was to somehow be a part of it, so everything was going just fine. It was a dream situation all around. And then you committed to Cardinal Sin. You started betting on NBA games, including games that you were reffing yourself. Yes. What were you thinking? Obviously, I wasn't thinking to cross that line. Why do you think you did it? Because I fell into an addiction to gambling.

How did it begin? Playing golf at country clubs and card games and country clubs and people's houses. And it just evolved from those types of situations to betting on athletic contests. From card games to athletic contests to the NBA? Yes. Donaghy was betraying everything he and his family stood for. His father had been a respected ref in college basketball. Tim followed in his footsteps and went even further, making it to the NBA. But Tim said betting was more powerful than all of that, and winning was ecstasy. And did betting on the NBA give you a higher high than betting on other sports? I think it gave me a higher high because I was able to predict the outcome of the games.

And I think when you talk about gambling and the euphoria that comes with it, making winning picks is what excites you. euphoria. Real euphoria. And as far as you know, you were the only ref who was placing bets? As far as I understand, yes. How many games did you bet on? I think I bet on probably over 100 games. Over 100. And how many of those were you reffing yourself? A lot. And here's what you may find difficult to believe. Donaghy says that while his betting may have been illegal, his refing was always honest.

You're insisting that your betting did not influence the way you called a game. Why should we believe you? Because the FBI did a thorough investigation, and even the NBA concluded that I did not fix games in the NBA. That's right. A 29-year FBI veteran, special agent Philip Scala, led the investigation of Donaghy. He told us that Donaghy convinced him. He said, knowing the information that I had, I didn't have to do anything on the court to pick a winner. I could pick a winner 80% of the time.

Just knowing what I knew an hour before the game and watching the tapes, we could see that there was never something outlandish where you could see he called a foul or he omitted a foul because he wanted to see a certain team win. We never saw that. The NBA's investigation came to the same surprising conclusion. Quote, it seems plausible to us that Donaghy may not have manipulated games. We are unable to contradict the government's conclusion. When you were reffing a game, didn't it come to your mind that you'd bet on one team and not on the other? I tried to put it out of my mind, and I think that I was able to do that.

In one game. You were betting on San Antonio, but you threw their coach, Greg Popovich, out of the game, and now Greg Popovich has been tossed. I didn't think about the bet during the game, and in my mind, he needed to be ejected. Losing their coach cost San Antonio the game and cost Donaghy his bet. But that didn't happen very often. Donaghy claims, and the FBI concurs, that he won 70% to 80% of his NBA bets. You told the FBI this is a quote. You don't realize how easy this was for me, knowing what I know.

What exactly did you know? I knew that there were certain relationships that existed between referees and players, referees and coaches and referees and owners that influenced the point spreads in games. What's a point spread? A point spread is where a team is favored to win or lose by a certain amount of points. You say that certain refs like or dislike certain players, certain coaches, certain general managers, and certain owners. You told us, I knew these guys, knew who they liked, who they despised, and who they would help or screw over.

For example, Donaghy cited tempestuous superstar Alan Iverson. Some refs liked him, some did nothing. Natural enough. But Donaghy said several refs would let their feelings influence their calls by either favoring Iverson or favoring his opponents, and that would affect the score. And I knew those relationships, whether they were positive or negative, had an effect on the game. So you knew when Iverson was playing and you knew which riffs were there. You knew whether to bet on the Iverson team or on the other team? Yes. Iverson wouldn't talk to us. He didn't want refs to get mad at him.

But his manager told us that the way the refs were treating him, some for, some against, made him sick. I do believe Allen Iverson knew this, and I believe all the players know this, that certain referees treat them much better than others. Donaghy told us that two years ago, Iverson had incurred the wrath of the refs. He had threatened one of our officials, and the NBA fined him $25,000. And we felt as a group that he should have been suspended. And because he wasn't, we felt like we would teach him a lesson.

During that time, you worked in Iverson game January 6, 2007. So you bet against Iverson's team? Correct. Because you knew that all the refs were gunning for him? This was openly discussed? Openly discussed. And I knew that the other two referees and I sought out to do a little justice of our own. The refs quickly called curious fouls on Iverson, including rarely called fouls for palming. And Iverson still upset about that palming call.

They threw his game off and his team lost, according to the game's announcers. Even late in the game, he kept hurting Iverson's team by letting defenders bludgeon him without calling any fouls. Watch. Tim Dunn will not call a foul with Ironson Gold Sebastian about three in a row where he got to the basket, got fouled. We thought, no call. What are we looking at? We're looking at a foul that was let go. Obviously, in the pre-game meetings, we came to the conclusion that we were not going to give Allen Iverson any marginal plays to the basket, and that absolutely should have been called a foul that I and the other referees passed on.

Did anyone in the NBA know about it? There was a group supervisor at the game that came in at halftime who was laughing and stated that he felt that Iverson had gotten the message. So the supervisor approved of your punishing Iverson? Yes. The NBA would not let that supervisor or any of its refs talk to us in that game. Donaghy did make calls that helped him win his bet, but he insists that wasn't the point. He says all he wanted to do was punish Iverson, but, yes, he did win his bet.

Special agent Philip Scala, who retired from the FBI last year, told us Donaghy would bet on a game when he knew who the refs were and that they felt strongly about certain players. What does that tell you about how certain refs call games? Most of the refs, we believed, were honest in calling the game as they had seen it. There was this aspect of judgment. A person should understand his bias and make sure he leaves that on the sideline. But obviously, that wasn't the case, or else Donaghy wouldn't have been picking 80% of the games. There seemed to be some bleeding in that. In that area. Some bleeding? Sounds to me like an understatement. Yeah, could be.

Now, you say that Donaghy cooperated with you. If he had lied to you, he would have faced a much longer sentence, no? Yeah. So long as he was completely honest and omitted nothing, the FBI would stand by him. If we ever found out that there was a lie, that cooperation agreement would be ripped up. And that never happened. That never happened. Donaghy told the FBI and us that NBA headquarters inadvertently helped him pick winners by sending refs instructions before a game.

For example, he says he won several bets in a row by putting his money on the Los Angeles Lakers because he knew the league was going to favor their star, Kobe Bryant. He knew it because the Lakers had complained that refs had missed calling fouls on defenders who'd been blocking Bryant. The Lakers had sent in a CD of 25 plays that they felt calls were missed when Kobe Bryant went to the basket. And I understood from the NBA office that 22 of those plays were missed by the referees. And I knew that Kobe Bryant was basically going to be given the opportunity to go to the foul line if somebody as much as breathe on him.

The NBA says its instructions to refs are meant to improve officiating, but Donaghy says those directives made it easy for him to pick winners because it was inside information, along the lines of knowing that a certain stock was going to be bought out before the opening bell in the stock market. So it's, you know, almost a guarantee. Here's more of what you did. You would telephone reps who were about to officiate a game and pump them for information before the game. What kind of information are you looking for? If there was a situation where a payback was in order from a previous game, injuries certainly played a factor or just little gossip, conversations that I would use in making a pick.

But the other refs did not know that you were using this information to place bets? No. So you were betraying your fellow referees? Unfortunately, yes. One former ref who feels betrayed is Mike Mathis, who used to head the referees union; he told us that refs speak openly among themselves about their personal prejudices in locker rooms. Okay. Referees do talk about players. You know, if a guy is sitting there saying he doesn't like so and so, and this guy does this, and he won't, you know, keep his mouth shut, da da da da da, I can see where he could take that information and use it.

But Mathis says he was stunned that Donaghy actually did use it to place bets. What do you think of what Donaghy did? It's reprehensible. It took a career of mine, 25 years, and sort of washed it down the toilet. So Donaghy really spoiled the reputation of all of you guys. No doubt. Mike Mathis is a man you respect, right? Sure. Mathis said your betting on NBA games was reprehensible. You agree? Absolutely. Did you feel that you were doing something wrong? Sure. But obviously, it was easy and it was exciting, and I actually didn't realize the consequences of my actions.

You didn't know that you were doing something that could get you into trouble? Obviously, it was in the back of my head. But I think you just go with the notion that you're not going to be caught. You thought you could get away with it. Yes. And Donaghy might well have gotten away with it. He might still be reffing and betting today, but he fell in with the mob. How? The mob brought him down. When we come back, Tim Donaghy, the NBA ref who bet on games he officiated, was placing those bets through a friend.

He was too scared of getting caught to do it himself. And their winning streak went on uninterrupted for three years. But in the fourth year, that friend let slip that he was getting his betting tips from an NBA ref. The mob found out about it and wanted in on the action. That's when Donaghy discovered what it means to be truly scared. It started outside this hotel in Philadelphia. The FBI says two men associated with the Gambino crime family requested a meeting with Donaghy. They took him for a ride. They came down and picked me up. They picked you up? Mm hmm.

And what happened then? They basically told me that I needed to give them the picks, and if I didn't, that it's a possibility that somebody would go down and visit my wife and kids in Florida. Wow. And you believed them? Yes. Were you scared? Sure. Robert. From then on, his picks were relayed to the mob. And how did you communicate your bets? I would discuss it with a high school friend of mine who would pass the information along to them. And was there a code? Yes. The code was if I wanted them to bet the home team, I would discuss his brother Chuck, and if I wanted him to bet the visiting team, I would mention his brother Johnny.

Do you have any notion how much the mob made off of Donaghy? The FBI is very, very conservative in those aspects. We felt comfortable saying it was at least a few million dollars, at least conservatively, that went into the coffers of organized crime. And how much were you making? I was making $2,000 per correct pick. $2,000 per correct pick. That seems like peanuts. If they were making millions, it was. Why didn't you ask for more money? It wasn't about the money at that point. It wasn't about the money. It was just about getting through the season and hoping that it'd ended.

Because the mob put a lot of money on his picks. They were not good losers. We told you that in one game, Donaghy threw out the coach of the team they were betting on. That cost the mob the bet, and they were not happy. They had questions as to why I did it. And what did you tell them? I just told them that I wasn't making calls in games to influence the outcome. And, you know, I'm not going to be able to obviously predict the winner every night. And, you know, they have to accept that that's what's going to happen.

Did the mob accept that? I'm not sure that they accepted it or not, but that was the information that I passed to them. As it turned out, his mob connection brought him down. The FBI, which was monitoring mob phone calls, heard that an NBA ref was betting on games. The information made it to Special Agent Philip Scala, who headed the FBI's Gambino family task force. One of the case agents had come into my office and said that they had information from a wiretap stating that there were huge sums of money being made and that someone thought that a ref may be involved.

So you got to Donaghy through the mob, really? Uh, yeah. So if you hadn't gotten involved with the mob, you might still be out there reffing and betting on your own games? Possibly. So your big mistake was getting involved with the mobile? No, my big mistake was crossing that line and where I bet in the first place. Tell me about the moment that you realized that the FBI knew that you'd be betting on NBA games. A sickening feeling, you know, the realization of that happening was just sickening. Now, once you were caught, you decided to come clean and cooperate.

Why? I knew I did something that was obviously a bad choice. And I decided that moving forward, it was not only in my best interest but my family's best interest to try and cut my losses. You call it a bad choice? Isn't that something of an understatement? Sure, it was a horrible choice. He cooperated with the FBI to get a lighter sentence, but that exposed him to some dark problems. Were you contacted by anyone in the mob? Threats were made to my home phone.

What kind of threats did you receive? Death threats. What did they say? That I was going to be killed. Did you believe him? I wasn't sure. Robert Donaghy was sentenced to one year in prison, where he found he was not safe from the mob. He was threatened, then attacked. There was one guy who claimed that he was associated with the mob and that he was going to get a gun and eventually blow my head off and break my kneecaps. His head was untouched. But months later, one knee still needs therapy. He whacked me with a stick and did some damage to my knee.

And now that he's out, he is still worried about retribution from the mob? Well, certainly it's in the back of my mind, but I'm not going to live my life in fear. But I was informed by the FBI agents that they certainly had an eye on what they called these wise guys and that if anything would come up, they would inform me immediately. Do you believe that you will be protected? Yes, I do. Convicted of wire fraud and passing betting tips across state lines, Donaghy spent eleven months of his sentence in prison and was released last month.

He could well have been sentenced to more than five years if he hadn't cooperated. His two mob cohorts, Thomas the doctor Martino and James the sheep Batista, denied ever threatening Donaghy and got sentences of 15 months and one year. Donaghy not only confessed his own sins to the FBI, he also blew the whistle on the NBA. He claimed that in the playoffs, the NBA does everything possible to extend series and to help big market teams advance longer.

Playoffs with those chosen teams mean more money for the NBA. The NBA denies it and says Donaghy was making wild allegations, hoping to reduce his sentence. Commissioner David Stern declined to speak with us. He didn't want the league to participate. In a report about Donaghy, NBA commissioner David Stern and other referees say that you have no credibility. You are a convicted felon, not to be trusted. They say refs are professional, and all this stuff about their personal feelings influencing the way they call games is nonsense.

I would say they have a very valid point, but I would again point back to the investigation that the FBI conducted and the fact that I was 100% truthful with them. The FBI said that they believed you, that you were honest, but that does not necessarily mean that you're correct. You may have believed the NBA was tilting the playing field, but that doesn't mean that they actually did. So I would answer that with the fact that I was still able to pick the games at a 70% to 80% correct rate.

How much do you think you made in total over the course of four years betting on NBA games? I think I probably profited around $100,000. Where's that money today? Some of it's at casinos. Some of it's a paid-off football debts. Some of it's paid for luxury items for our house. Now, Donaghy has written a book titled Personal Foul, published by the VTI Group after Random House dropped it. It's about his betting scandal and his allegations against the NBA.

But the league is striking back. They keep trying to paint me as the rogue referee we think we have here. A rogue, isolated criminal. Aren't you the rogue referee? I mean, I certainly made some terrible choices to do what I did, but the culture that existed within the game of the NBA enabled me to be able to do this at a very successful rate. You said that to you, basketball represented discipline, tradition, fairness, and integrity. You betrayed all of that, didn't you?

Yes, I did. Have you learned to live with yourself? It's tough, but you brought it on yourself. I certainly did. What is the moral of your story? What message are you trying to put out? We all have choices to make in life, and when we decide to go down that wrong road, it'd be better off backing up and realizing that not only do you affect your life with some terrible choices, but the lives of people you love the most. And that's your family.

How did it affect your family? Roland did. His wife divorced him, and she has custody of their four daughters. Ironically, Donaghy says his scandal has actually improved NBA officiating because the league has made various changes to prevent refs from letting their biases influence their calls. Are you still watching basketball? I haven't watched a game in two years. You were involved in it for how many years? My whole entire life. What do you think would happen if you turned on your TV and watched a basketball game? I would wish that I was out on the floor refereeing it, and that's something that you'll never do again.

Basketball, Gambling, Fbi, Sports Scandal, Addiction, Corruption, 60 Minutes