How former ref Tim Donaghy conspired to fix NBA games
IT WAS DEC. 12, 2006, a Tuesday, an hour before midnight, at the Philadelphia Airport Marriott, inside that hotel’s primary restaurant, called at the time the Riverbend Bar & Grille. And it was there, in the otherwise vacant dining area, seated around a table, that Battista and Donaghy, with Martino witnessing, consummated their deal. Battista demanded that Donaghy never bet with Concannon again, and in exchange for providing Battista with his betting “picks,” Donaghy would receive $2,000 per game — but only if the pick won. Much later on he would come to call this meeting “the marriage.”
Accounts of the meeting differ. According to statements Donaghy made to federal law enforcement, Battista’s deal was effectively an act of extortion. You don’t want anyone “from New York” coming to your house, Battista told him. And: You don’t want the NBA to find out about what you’ve been doing with Concannon…
