Posted by Brad @ 12:18 am on June 12th 2008

Nader Vindicated

Yesterday, Ralph Nader had a moment of vindication. In a court filing, disgraced ex-NBA ref Tim Donaghy claimed that Game 6 of the 2002 Lakers-Kings playoff series was manipulated by two of the three referees. Guess who has been saying that all along?

Back in 2002, Nader wrote a letter urging NBA Commissioner David Stern to investigate the controversial game, in which the Lakers scored 16 of their final 18 points at the foul line thanks to some heavy-handed officiating. Nader’s interference drew scorn, but then again so did everything he did back then…[...]

“This whole thing has lit up our funds today,” spokesman Chris Driscoll told me. Meanwhile, Nader’s office sent out a celebratory e-mail blast: “We tell our kids that sports teaches lessons about life. The lesson we learned from the 2002 NBA Playoffs—Ralph was right.” At last, Ralph Nader can get the respect he deserves!

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2 Comments »

  1. Anyone who has watched the NBA knew or suspected this. The big market TV teams get the calls, the big men, and the trades.

    The seven biggest TV markets are:

    NY
    LA
    Chicago
    San Francisco
    Boston
    Detroit
    Houston

    Seems to match up pretty well with NBA champions, no? NY has not been very good, but not for lack of trying on the part of the NBA. Never forget the Ewing lottery and the bent envelope.

    Only SF has been left out.

    The NBA is sportstainment, somewhere between pro-wrestling and the NFL (cleanest IMHO).

    Steroids are obviously an issue for other leagues, but that is not a top down form of corruption.

    Comment by daveg — 6/12/2008 @ 2:36 am

  2. Nader isn’t the only one who’s been saying that.

    Game 6 of the 2002 semifinals was the most flagrantly corrupt professional sporting event I’ve seen conducted within the United States. It represented the last time I was able to watch the NBA with any real interest.

    There have been other possible fixes–the Miami-Dallas final for instance–but LA-Sacramento just exceeded all possible boundaries of belief. It was like watching a Serie B soccer match involving a Sicilian team.

    Comment by Rojas — 6/12/2008 @ 12:30 pm

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