With the NBA finals on this week between the Lakers and the Celtics, what better time for convicted basketball referee Tim Donaghy to launch an accusation of game-fixing against league executives? Donaghy, who will go to federal prison for his own actions in fixing games for gamblers, now says that the entire league is corrupt. He accuses the NBA of having its referees favor big-market teams and attempt to draw finals out to more games in order to boost revenues:

Rick Moran writes about this today:

However, nothing changes the fact that Donaghy’s letter was self-serving and totally void of proof. All we have is the word of a convicted gambler that conspiracy theories that have been the staple of sports talk radio for more than a decade may actually be true – not a lot to hang your hat on for most observers although I’m sure the lines will be hot with “I told you so’s” from the conspiracy promoters at the big sports talk radio stations today.

If the charges have not been investigated, it is paramount that the prosecutor and FBI do so. If the specific allegations have been looked at and found to be baseless, the league should make that plain to the public. As it stands now, David Stern’s statement is ambiguous about these additional charges.

Donaghy put the pro game under a cloud with his gambling. His shocking allegations could bring the NBA crashing down – if they were true. But even if they haven’t been investigated, Donaghy’s lack of proof in making these spectacular charges only reinforces the idea that he is just another con looking for a break from prosecutors.

We’ve heard these accusations before, in baseball and football as well as basketball. Most of it sounds like conspiracy-theory nonsense, with no evidence to support it. Donaghy’s remarks are self-serving in the extreme, a sort of “everybody does it” that one might hear from a teenager caught with a joint.

In this case, though, Donaghy certainly got away with it for a while, and with millions of dollars at stake rather than a few thousand, the temptation would certainly exist. Donaghy also makes specific claims regarding the 2002 playoffs, as well as the 2005 series where the Dallas Mavericks. Mark Cuban complained bitterly about unfair enforcement of the rules at the time, and Ralph Nader complained about officiating in the 2002 Lakers-Kings series.

These were controversial at the time, and Donaghy could simply be exploiting the controversy to gain some credibility for his accusations. Perhaps, though, the FBI should continue probing the NBA to ensure it’s on the level — and hasn’t transformed itself into the WWF.