Basketball is a game that is regularly rocked by scandals, but some resonate more than others. Here’s our pick of the top five basketball scandals in US history:
- Donaghy fix
In 2006 the Dallas Mavericks played against the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. The Mavericks were up 2-0 in the series when Tim Donaghy, the referee, decided to manipulate the results to help the Miami Heat win. He was later found guilty of match fixing. He tried to claim there was institutional fixing of games by the NBA but it turns out he was trying to cover up his own gambling problem.
- Arenas and Crittenton incident
Washington Wizards player Gilbert Arenas terrified his teammate, Javaris Crittenton, in 2009 when he pulled a gun on him over a game of poker. Although the incident between the two men became heated, they both walked away unharmed, but the NBA found out and suspended Arenas for the 2009-10 season. His career never recovered.
- Adidas college basketball scandal
Recently three men, including a former Adidas executive, were jailed as a result of a college basketball scandal. The men were found guilty of trying to convince top college basketball players to move to colleges sponsored by Adidas. They were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud as investigators found they had been transferring money to the families of the students they were trying to recruit.
The Adidas executive, James Gatto, got nine months in prison and the other two men received six months each. In the end, the scheme was stopped before anyone benefited financially but over 12 colleges were involved as well as Adidas, and their reputations have not came out of the scandal intact.
- Sterling’s racism
Donald Sterling, the then owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, made some shockingly racist comments in 2014 in a recording which became public and resulted in a hefty fine, and was also involved in a sexual harassment scandal. In a recording from September 2013, Sterling and his mistress were found to be making derogatory comments about people of color. The NBA later fined Sterling $2.5 million dollars and banned him for life. Sterling was also sued in 1996 and 2002 by different women who accused him of sexual harassment, offering money for sex and unwanted physical contact.
- Dennehy murder
In 2005, Baylor University player Patrick Dennehy was found dead in a gravel pit in Waco, Texas. His teammate Carlton Dotson was found guilty of his murder and sentenced to 35 years in jail. The killing was particularly gruesome as Dennehy’s head wasn’t attached to his body when his remains were found. It is still uncertain why Dotson decided to kill Dennehy but several psychologists confirmed Dotson was hearing voices and suffering from possible drug-induced psychosis. The only two people who will ever know are either dead or in prison for a very long time.
Basketball is a great game, but the drama is always ready to rear its ugly head.
