…he’s not about to let anyone else lay their paws on the integrity of the National Basketball Association. Rogue ref Tim Donaghy — eviscerated elsewhere today by Peter Vecsey — was interviewed earlier this week by ESPN 1050’s Brandon Tierney, an exchange the New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman (hardly a fan of Tierney’s) called “riveting…relevant, meaningful.”
Curiously, Breen (above) rang in immediately following Tierney’s chat to discredit Donaghy, a stunt Raissman compares to “Marv Albert stealing Breen’s microphone to call the last 1:30 of the seventh game of the NBA Finals”
When Breen started hammering Donaghy, did David Stern see a guy charging over the hill on a white horse yelling: “It’s only Donaghy. It’s only Donaghy. All other NBA refs are clean?” After all, Breen has a well documented history of being sympathetic to the fraternity of NBA officials.
Cue the sad violin.
“¦ These guys (NBA refs), it breaks their heart, it rips their insides out ¦ this guy (Donaghy) is questioning everybody else’s integrity,” Breen told Tierney. “¦ For him to question the integrity of these guys who do an incredible job and care about their job is really disgraceful. That’s the part that drives me crazy.”
Pass the Kleenex.
If someone had walked up to Breen in 2003 and said Donaghy is a crooked official who is betting on games it’s not a reach to suggest Breen would have scolded that “someone” for daring to question the integrity of an NBA official.