“Referees conspired against Allen Iverson because of a $25,000 fine”: How an NBA ref crew ‘secretly’ taught 76ers legend a lesson

Allen Iverson has dealt with a lot of adversity in his career, and there was even a time when an NBA referee crew was looking to sabotage his game.

The 76ers legend brought a different style to the NBA when he joined the league, and I don’t just mean his play-style. Sure, he was revolutionary with the way he handled the ball, crossing players up on a nightly basis, however, he definitely had a huge cultural impact on the league too.

Iverson embraced the Hip-Hop culture that was taking the US by storm in the late 90s, early 2000s, and fully committed to dressing and styling himself like that.

He brought the cornrows hair style to the league, and his fashion sense always reflected the nature of the Hip-Hop industry at the time. Iverson even released a song called ’40 bars’ at the time. However, the league, especially the higher ups including commissioner David Stern did not take too kindly to Iverson’s style.

A new dress code was implemented in the league banning things like sleevless shirts, chains, pendants, medallions, sunglasses while indoors, and more.

However, that wouldn’t even be the most of what Iverson would have to face as in 2006-07, he actively had referees looking to get revenge on him.

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How Tim Donaghy and an NBA ref crew tried to have Allen Iverson suspended

The 2006-07 season was a dark time for the NBA as referee Tim Donaghy was arrested for a gambling scandal where he was found guilty for committing wire fraud and conspiring to engage in wagering over state lines. Donaghy even admitted that he was refereeing in ‘a lot’ of the 100 or so games which he placed bets on.

However, Donaghy maintained that he made a majority of his money not by influencing the outcome of the game but simply from inside information based on perhaps a crew’s attitude towards certain players like Allen Iverson.

During the 2006-7 season, the Nuggets played a game against the 76ers which they ended up losing, but the bigger storyline to come out of that game was AI’s discontent with the officiating crew led by Steve Javie.

“I thought I got fouled on that play, and I said I thought that he was calling the game personal, and he threw me out,” Iverson said after the game. “His fuse is real short anyway, and I should have known that I couldn’t say anything anyway. It’s been something personal with me and him since I got in the league. This was just the perfect game for him to try and make me look bad.”

Iverson was fined $25,000 for his words, and this triggered something in Donaghy. The next game the Nuggets would face the Lakers, and that’s when Donaghy began his revenge campaign on Iverson.

“There was one game where Allen Iverson threatened Steve Javie and we felt, as a staff, he should have should be suspended, but he was only fined $25,000,” Donaghy explained.

What exactly did the refs do? Well, a big part of basketball is ensuring you dribble the ball correctly, but occasionally, players tend to palm the ball when they bring the ball up, ‘carrying’ it slightly before taking their next dribble. While this rule is technically a violation, it’s hardly called because of how insignificant it is in the grand scheme of things. However, this is exactly what Donaghy and his crew sought to exploit that night.

“I had the next game, and the two referees and myself, in the morning meeting, decided that Allen Iverson — although he carries the ball all the time and it’s never called — we were going to enforce that against him that night.”

Donaghy and the other refs took turns calling travels on AI, and when they weren’t doing that, they were turning a blind eye to several plays where Iverson was fouled. Donaghy also mentioned that a referee supervisor laughed at how Iverson was being treated.

Donaghy did serve a 15-month prision sentence, and he certainly realized that he crossed a major line with his actions. “We all have choices to make in life and when we decide to go down that wrong road, it’d be better off backing up and realizing that not only do you affect your life with some terrible choices, but the lives of people you love the most — and that’s your family,” he reminisced.

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