How can an NBA ref affect the point spread? The scary answer: all too easily

	Photo Illustration by John Ueland

Thanks to the federal investigation into former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, every ref will be more closely scrutinized -- by league executives, players, coaches, fans and even other refs. But officials in all sports have ­always been monitored and evaluated, perhaps none more so than the NBA's. Which raises the question: If Donaghy did want to use his position to manipulate scores, how could he go about it and not be detected? SI asked that of NBA scouts and coaches, all of whom initially struggled to answer a question they never thought they'd have to ponder.

• Take a key player out of the game with early foul trouble

It's common practice across the league to sit a player who picks up two quick fouls for an extended period. Likewise, getting to four personals early in the third quarter would relegate a player to the bench until the fourth. Says one scout, "If a referee put our big man in foul trouble early, we'd be f---ed."

• Blow the whistle on a ticky-tack foul

"There have been games in which a ­referee has called a touch foul late," says an assistant coach, "and I'll look at him and say, 'You're calling that now?' " Although the NBA rule book is specific on what a foul is -- "A player shall not hold, push, charge into, impede the progress of an opponent by extending a hand, forearm, leg or knee or by bending the body into a position that is not normal" -- officials have plenty of leeway in determining when to call them. Noncalls for obvious violations could be equally influential.

• Enforce minor infractions

"If a referee wanted to," says an assistant coach, "he could call lane violations on free throws every time." Minor transgressions like illegal defense, ­offensive three seconds and palming are easy to whistle and difficult to ­dispute. "Every player in this league carries," says ­another ­assistant. "[Officials] just choose not to call it."

• Create a free throw discrepancy

A ref can help shrink a lead by making one-sided calls. "If a team gets into the bonus early in a quarter," says a scout, "it changes the complexion of the game." On Feb. 26, for instance, Donaghy worked a game in Madison Square Garden in which the New York Knicks shot 39 free throws, while the Miami Heat attempted eight. New York won 99-93 -- and covered a three-point spread. A ref can also inflate the final score (and thus exceed the over-under) by whistling fouls on both teams, which creates more scoring ­opportunities without time running off the clock.