Netflix’s New Donaghy Doc Traces Evolution Of Sports Betting

Timmy, Tommy and Jimmy attended the same high school in suburban Philadelphia. After graduating, Timmy became a pro basketball referee and Tommy worked at a restaurant called Lombardo's. Jimmy graduated to taking high-dollar sports bets as part of a crew of Philadelphia bookmakers known as "the Animals". In the mid-2000s, Jimmy had a falling out with the group and ventured out on his own. Tim Donaghy was an NBA official who was caught up in a gambling scandal.

Jimmy and Tommy arranged a meeting with Timmy at a Philadelphia-area Marriott. Timy agreed to work with Tommy and Battista to fix NBA games. They went 37-10 based on Tim's information. Donaghy and two other officials working a Denver game conspired to call palming on Allen Iverson. Denver scored 84 points in a double-digit loss to Utah. The FBI learned from a wiretap that the Gambinos had an NBA referee in their “hip pocket” that was Donghy. He has the lottery ticket. The Gambino's went to win $2 million to $3 million in bets per game.

Donaghy and Martino cut deals with prosectors to avoid a trial. Battista was offered a plea bargain to plead guilty to illegal gambling. The NBA encourages officials to call fouls on the wrong players. The league wants to have playoff games officiated to result in seven-game series whenever possible. In the 2002 Western Conference Finals, the Lakers shot 18 more free throws than the Kings to force a Game 7 back in Los Angeles.

Netflix's documentary about the Donaghy scandal traces the evolution of sports betting. The documentary also mentions that since sports gambling became legal outside of Nevada in 2018, the NBA has entered into official partnerships with sportsbooks to protect the integrity of the game.  “Once you lose integrity, it’s difficult to get it back” said former FBI agent Phil Scala. According to Donghy's lawyer, NBA was the only entity with anything to gain from the leak.