The official’s whistles are well known to blow more frequently in favor of stars. In 2006, Gilbert Arenas was a legitimate star, having the best season of his young career. But as he recalls, that wasn’t enough to earn him any favorable calls from referee Tim Donaghy. Despite his tendency for exaggeration, Gil’s story certainly makes a compelling case against the on-duty official that night.
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“This is the only game I ever felt I was cheated,” the former Wizards star shared on his podcast, ‘Gil’s Arena’. He recalled the night after he had just scored a career-high 60 points against Kobe Bryant’s Lakers. His team was taking on the Denver Nuggets.
After winning the overtime thriller against LA the night before, the Wizards were confident that they could take advantage of Carmelo Anthony’s suspension and secure a second consecutive win.
Unfortunately, Donaghy had his own plans for the night.
“I shot 30 shots. How many free throws y’all think I got? Zero free-throws that game. I’m yelling, ‘Why y’all cheating us for this sorry a** group of players? Every time we was making a comeback, they’d just start blowing the whistle for the other team. Earl Boykins shooting like 15-16 free-throws, it was just crazy,” Arenas said.
The time Tim Donaghy cheated Gil out of an easy W pic.twitter.com/CpXHIsVsNE
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) December 23, 2024
The Nuggets’ backup point guard went 14 of 15 from the charity stripe on December 18th, 2006, making more free-throws than the entire Wizards roster (12 of 18). Arenas sank just 10 of his 30 shots and as he recalled, earned 0 free-throws in the 108-117 loss.
At just 5’5’’, Earl Boykins is the shortest player in the league to ever score 30 points, but he was no star by any means. He was an undrafted guard who had bounced around the league since 1998 before finally securing a five-year deal with Denver in 2003. By 2006, Boykins was playing backup minutes behind Andre Miller, making his free-throw discrepancy against the Wizards all the more alarming.
It’s not just the numbers that back up Arenas’ story though, but also the history of Donaghy himself. From 1994 to 2007, the disgraced NBA referee officiated in 772 regular season games and 26 playoff games.
He was forced to retire early after the FBI began an investigation into him for reportedly betting on the games he was refereeing. Donaghy later admitted that he was betting on games between the 2003 and 2007 seasons, making Gil’s experience against him all the more plausible.
Donaghy made millions by colluding with his high school classmates during those years. He would receive their ‘picks’ — for example, a bet on a bench player to score over 20 points — and would make calls during the game to ensure that that outcome came to fruition. Perhaps Donaghy was tasked with ensuring that the underdog Denver side won against Washington, leading to his unfair foul calls against Gilbert Arenas in 2006.
