NBA TEAMS BANNED FROM SIGNING IRANIAN 7-FOOTER

HAMED EHADADI

According to Yahoo! Sports, the NBA has sent a letter to all 30 teams informing them they are FORBIDDEN from signing 7′ 2″ center Hamed Ehadadi of Iran. Ehahadadi was reportedly close to signing a deal with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Unfortunately, there is a federal law which prohibits “a person or organization in the United States from engaging in business dealings with Iranian nationals.”

Ehadadi has looked great for the Iranian team in the Olympics. He had 21 points and 16 rebounds against Argentina on Saturday.

 

PHOTO OF EHADADI IN ACTION

Ehadadi is not to be confused with another Iranian 7-footer named Jaber Rouzbahani. Rouzbanhi is the freakishly large center who applied for the NBA draft and played in the Vegas Summer League four years ago.

JABER ROUZBAHANI

Ehadadi is far more skilled than Rouzbahani. However, check out the photo below. Ehadadi is listed at 7’2″ but look how he is DWARFED by Rouzbahani. Rouzbahani is the guy in the green towel. Ehadadi is to his right.

 

IRANIAN BASKETBALL TEAM

ARENA FOR MYTHICAL LAS VEGAS NBA FRANCHISE YET TO BREAK GROUND

 

According to Sunday’s Las Vegas Review Journal you may want to “hold off on buying season tickets for the phantom NBA team that Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is busy courting.”

Billions of dollars in Las Vegas construction projects have been halted because of bank financing problems and the poor economy. Right now there are TWO proposed construction projects involving an NBA arena in Las Vegas. Both have yet to break ground.

The first is a total Ponzi scheme. It will never be built. That proposed arena would theoretically be built downtown. The contractor announced the arena a couple of years ago but has not built one inch of the project. They simply don’t have the money. REI Neon has asked the Las Vegas city council for multiple extensions on its proposal.

The more viable NBA arena proposal would put the facilility behind Bally’s on the Las Vegas strip. Harrah’s (a legitimate major casino group) has already announced it is pairing with stadium builder AEG on the project. Bank lending policies in the wake of the subprime crisis have already halted the construction of several casino projects. Harrah’s claims they still have access to the cash for the arena. However, construction on the facility was supposed to start this month.

So far, all is quiet in Vegas. There is no construction going on at Harrah’s with none in sight.

UH OH! DONAGHY MAY HAVE HAD HELP

 

NBA COACH GEORGE KARL TURNS HIS BACK ON REFEREE SCOTT FOSTER

Foxsports.com has obtained the phone records of Tim Donaghy and say the disgraced NBA referee may not have acted alone in his gambling transgressions.

The NBA has maintained that Donaghy was a lone “rogue isolated criminal” who acted alone, but phone records obtained by Fox show Donaghy made over 100 phone calls to fellow ref Scott Foster at the same time he was talking to gamblers.

Fox says their research shows Donaghy made 136 phone calls to Foster and 124 calls to his bookie between October 2006 and April 2007. That’s the same time Donaghy admitted to betting on NBA games. Donaghy’s phone records show he didn’t phone any other referee more than 13 times.

The Fox story goes into elaborate details about Donaghy’s phone records. They also quote law enforcement sources who say the Foster calls look “suspicious.” The Fox story says the “conversations with Foster and others have led authorities to suspect the NBA betting scandal goes beyond Donaghy.”

 

TIM DONAGHY

FEDS SAY TIM DONAGHY IS A LYING SCUMBAG: OTHER REFS DID NOT FIX GAMES

TIM DONAGHY

Disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy was called out by prosecutors on Friday. They say Donaghy has exaggerated his claims of cooperation in a gambling investigation so that he could lessen his own prison term and avoid paying restitution.

The NBA is seeking over $1 million dollars in back compensation from Donaghy. Prosecutors also say that Donaghy was of virtually no use to them in prosecuting other members of his gambling ring. Although he did eventually roll over on his co-defendants, prosecutors say that Donaghy waited so long to do so that they already had their cases made and got convictions without his help.

Most importantly, the government is now officially on record as saying other NBA refs and league officials never fixed games. In court records filed Friday, the Feds disputed Donaghy’s claims of other internal NBA corruption. They say Donaghy’s statements ”did not lead to evidence of prosecutable federal offenses.”

The government specifically rebuffed defense arguments that Donaghy should get a break on his sentence. Donaghy’s lawyers had argued he should receive leniency (or no sentence at all) for voluntarily coming forward and giving prosecutors inside dirt about alleged game-fixing and other misconduct by other referees and league officials.

The government did not believe Donaghy. Not only did they NOT ask for a lighter sentence for Donaghy, they actually suggested that he be jailed LONGER than his co-conspirators since he was the “central figure” in the gambling scandal they were involved in.

Donaghy will be sentenced July 14th. He faces up to 33 months in prison.

 

SONICS TRIAL CONCLUDES

 

COURTROOM SKETCH OF CITY LAWYER PAUL LAWRENCE QUESTIONING SONICS OWNER CLAY BENNETT

The trial of the Seattle SuperSonics vs the city of Seattle ended today with both sides making their closing arguments to judge Marsha Pechman.

TYPICALLY FLATTERING PICTURE OF SONICS OWNER CLAY BENNETT

The city is trying to make the Sonics honor the final two years of their lease. The team wants to move to Oklahoma City immediately. The judge will issue her decision next Wednesday.

SONICS FANS STILL CARRY THE BANNER FOR THEIR SOON TO BE DEFUNCT TEAM

PICTURES FROM BOSTON CELTICS CHAMPIONSHIP PARADE

 

CLASSIC NBA FINALS CLIP FROM 1976: INCLUDES CELTICS FANS ATTACKING REF

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VIA FANHOUSE AND SPORTING NEWS

NBA FINALS RATINGS ARE HUGE

Game Three of The NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston  Celtics got monster ratings. According to Mediaweek, the Lakers victory drew 14.5 million viewers Tuesday night.

That’s an increase of 55 percent over last year’s Game Three. It was also the second highest rated basketball game on ABC in six years.

The game helped ABC score its highest-rated Tuesday night in prime time since 2006.

In winning Tuesday night, ABC stopped Fox’s 21-week consecutive night winning streak among viewers 18-49.

Even in tv ratings there can be only one.

SCUMBAG REF ACCUSES NBA

TIM DONAGHY

Yesterday disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy came out with some veiled allegations about other NBA officials possibly altering the outcome of games and questioned their integrity.

Originally I wasn’t even going to post on this topic. It’s obvious that Donaghy is a liar and a scumbag as well as a degenerate gambler who’s just trying to save his own sorry ass with the Feds.

But, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports makes a great point.

According to Wojnarowski’s latest column, commissioner David Stern and the NBA is only having to face this new round of accusations by Donaghy because of their own cheapness.

As Wojnarowski points out, Donaghy is a broken man. He has already lost his career, his reputation, his family and soon his freedom over his gambling and ties to organized crime.

Stern and the league are unhappy that under federal laws they are still required to eventually pay Donaghy a pension. They are further angered that Donaghy is trying to get out of serving any jail time for his role in betting on NBA games while being employed as a league ref.

Whether motivated by spite or greed, LAST WEEK the NBA filed a letter with federal probation officials. They are seeking $1 million in restitution damages from Donaghy. The league claims that’s the amount they invested in developing the rogue ref. 

According to Wojnarowski seeking “blood money” from Donaghy is beneath the league. Besides, the guy is flat broke. He was a bad gambler, with a ton of legal fees who’s currently going through a divorce in a community property state.

Good luck getting one nickle out of Donaghy. The NBA should have known better and taken the high road.

 

LAKERS/CELTICS HAS ARRIVED!

LAKERS/CELTICS BACK IN THE DAY

The NBA Finals tip off tonight. In what should be the highest rated, most anticipated basketball series in a decade (if not two) the Boston Celtics are hosting the Los Angeles Lakers.

Boston sports fans have been on quite a run with the success of the Red Sox and the Patriots. Still, the CELTICS hold a special place in the hearts of Boston sports fans. And, with the series opening in Beantown, they’re more than ready for the Lakers.

Boston sports fans are already distributing cutouts of Kobe Bryant’s alleged mistress to taunt the Lakers superstar during the game: