The NBA recently released the results of a review that was conducted after the Tim Donaghy scandal. The NBA officiating program was subject to a review by Lawrence B. Pedowitz, a former chief of the Criminal Division in the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Pedowitz was appointed to review the league by the NBA and was to make recommendations on his findings.

The investigation took fourteen months and Pedowitz found no evidence of illegal activity by any other referees besides Donaghy. Pedowitz did recommend that significant changes should be made. The report was sixteen pages long and recommended that the NBA strengthen their anti-gambling rules.

It was also recommended that they improve enforcement of these rules and create a “culture of compliance” among all league and team employees. This should include the reorganization of the management of the referee program and the creation of an anonymous hotline for gambling information.

Pedowitz also recommended that the league should increase monitoring of games for suspicious activity and increase efforts to eliminate the perception of referee bias by making more information available about the referee program and increasing access to fans and the media to referees.

"We are very appreciative of the effort by Mr. Pedowitz and his staff considering the extraordinary nature of the review," NBA commissioner David Stern said. "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.”



- 2008-10-03