The NBA conspiracy theorists will love what ex-NBA ref, Tim Donaghy, recently said to Sports Illustrated about Draymond Green's Game 5 suspension. Donaghy, as many of you remember, was banned from the league in 2007 after it was revealed that he had gambled on multiple games throughout his career.
The former ref came out of the woodwork to claim that the NBA only decided to suspend Golden State's Draymond Green for Game 5 in order to prolong the NBA Finals.
“I think when you look at the overt acts that Green has committed before, they were definitely more severe than this act, and yet he’s going to end up with a flagrant foul and suspension because of it,” Donaghy said. “In the past, I believe it was disregarded because [the Warriors] were down in the series. Here, they’re up in the series, so I think it’s a situation where, with that, it gives Cleveland a better chance of prolonging the series.”
Furthermore, Donaghy asserted that officials were instructed to favor the team that was down in the series, which would up the entertainment value, while he was still an NBA ref.
“Definitely indirectly with the tape sessions that took place and how they would show you plays that they wanted you to concentrate on in the game that,” Donaghy said. “It was always a situation where the team down in the series was going to benefit from those calls.”
Again, this is Tim Donaghy that we're talking about here so take everything with a grain of salt.
[Via]