Disgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy was sentenced on Tuesday to 15 months in federal prison for his participation in a gambling scandal that has scarred the NBA. Donaghy also will serve three years of supervised release. Donaghy, who was a referee in the NBA since the mid 1990's, has admitted to gambling and giving tips on NBA games, including the games that he was the referee for. This has been arguably the NBA's biggest scandal and NBA Commissioner David Stern has said that Donaghy is the only referee to have been doing illegal things. A lot of people say otherwise, saying that other referees can be involved as well. This entire situation has put a setback to the NBA's reputation, just like recent scandals involving the NFL and MLB has put setbacks on their respective sports. Donaghy gave investigators information that most likely reduced his prison sentence. He told investigators that two specific playoff series were being rigged by referees because of instruction from the NBA office. Numerous people from the NBA have denied that claim, but some people believe it may have happened. Now that Donaghy is locked up, the NBA now has to bring back respectability and trust in the game. Will another scandal like this one happen in the NBA? Has David Stern done his job with the referees?
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