Five of the worst scandals in basketball
No sport is without its scandals, so we take a look at five of the worst in basketball:
1. 30 years of mistakes: Donald Sterling
In 2014, Donald Sterling was fined $2.5m by the NBA. He also received a lifetime ban from the league and was forced to sell his team, the Clippers, after 33 years of ownership.
Sterling was perhaps the worst thing to happen to the NBA. His eventual exit from the sport was due to several racist comments he made to his mistress that were recorded on video and leaked to the press. During the video, Sterling stated explicitly that he did not want his mistress (of mixed black African and Mexican descent) to be publicly involved with black people or to bring them to his basketball games.
His comments were merely the final straw after a 33-year stretch owning the San Diego Clippers, though. After known white supremacist, Sterling, bought the Clippers back in 1981, he was wanted by the NBA for late payments to players. Once this situation cooled off things only got worse. Sterling was known for heckling his players from the sideline and having poor relationships with particular players. It’s no surprise that during his 33 years with the team, the Clippers lost 50 or more games for 22 of those years, and 60 or more for 8 of them.
2. Williams at Northwestern in 1995
Williams and a Northwestern teammate served a short stint in prison after fixing games in order to cause the team to throw away victories. As Northwestern lost a lot of matches during this time anyway, the game fixing was seen as pointless by most basketball fans.
3. Kobe Bryant sexual assault accusations
In 2003, a 19 year old female accused Kobe Bryant of rape. Although the case was eventually dismissed, the star couldn’t seem to shake the stigma of the incident, and allegations have since come into the news again. It has changed how many NBA fans perceived the star and the incident is still talked about today – 15 years later.
4. Accusations of institutional game fixing
In 2007, professional NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to conspiracy, after he was caught fixing matches during his 7-year basketball career. During this time Donaghy bet on and fixed several games he refereed. Donaghy’s actions came to light after his gambling habits became too obvious and were highlighted to the FBI.
Perhaps the biggest controversy to come from this case was that Tim Donaghy alleged game fixing was an institutional practice within the NBA. These allegations were denied.
5. Gilbert Arenas and illegal guns
In 2009, Gilbert Arenas was found to be illegally storing firearms in his NBA locker. The star’s actions came to light when he threatened fellow NBA player Javaris Crittenton in the locker room, due to an argument that had previously broken out during a card game. Arenas was suspended for the majority of the 2009 – 2010 season and his career took a downward spiral from them on.
