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2 9 4 4 0 6 5
Table
of
Contents
Introduction
........................................................................................................................
3
What
is
Corruption?
..........................................................................................................
4
Corruption
in
the
NBA
......................................................................................................
6
The
NBA
playbook
against
corruption
................................................................................
6
NBA
anti-doping
policy
.........................................................................................................................
6
NBA
anti-gambling
policy
....................................................................................................................
8
Anti-Tanking
policy
................................................................................................................................
9
High
profile
cases
of
corruption
in
the
NBA
...................................................................
10
Doping
........................................................................................................................................................
10
Match
Fixing
and
Point
Shaving
......................................................................................................
11
A
Corrupt
Commissioner?
.................................................................................................................
12
Implications
......................................................................................................................
14
Sponsors
.....................................................................................................................................
14
Media
...........................................................................................................................................
15
The
relationship
between
the
NBA
and
its
supporters
...............................................
16
Conclusion
.........................................................................................................................
17
Recommendations
..........................................................................................................
18
How
could
the
NBA
improve
their
anti-corruption
strategies?
...............................
18
Increased
Transparency
.....................................................................................................................
18
Biological
Passports
.............................................................................................................................
18
Ensure
advance
notification
of
tests
is
non-existent
.............................................................
18
How
could
the
NBA
improve
its
integrity?
......................................................................
19
A
more
competitive
draft
lottery
....................................................................................................
19
Ensure
young
and
new
athletes
coming
into
the
NBA
are
educated
correctly
..........
19
Appendices
........................................................................................................................
21
Appendix
1:
The
sport
development
framework
.........................................................
21
Appendix
2:
The
results
of
the
study
of
the
prevalence
of
corruption
in
international
sport
by
Gorse
&
Chadwick
(2010)
........................................................
23
Appendix
3:
US
sport
leagues
drug
policies
....................................................................
24
Appendix
4:
A
transcript
of
an
interview
between
Tom
Donaghy
and
Greta
Van
Susteren
......................................................................................................................................
25
References ......................................................................................................................... 27
Introduction
The
National
Basketball
Association,
more
commonly
known
as
The
NBA,
is
the
pinnacle
of
world
basketball.
The
league
brings
together
the
worlds
best
players
into
a
huge
commercial
metropolis
and
consequentially
into
the
eye
of
the
mass
media.
Despite
the
league
paying
the
highest
average
salary
to
its
players,
it
is
ranked
only
third
in
popularity
of
the
four
major
American
sports
leagues.
This
popularity
issue
could
well
be
linked
to
the
integrity
issues
that
have
faced
the
NBA
in
recent
years.
Since
the
drug
problems
the
league
faced
in
the
1980s,
the
on-court
violence
as
seen
in
the
brawl
between
the
Detroit
Pistons
and
the
Indiana
Pacers
in
2004
and
many
off-court
legal
issues
for
a
number
of
high-profile
players
the
integrity
of
the
league
as
a
whole
and
its
popularity
has
been
affected.
The
aim
of
this
report
is
to
define
corruption
in
sport
by
comparing
and
contrasting
different
academic
scholars
definitions
in
order
to
pinpoint
which
definition
encompasses
all
of
the
issues
that
corruption
brings
to
a
sporting
organisation.
The
report
will
then
critically
analyse
the
anti-corruption
mechanisms
that
are
currently
employed
by
the
NBA
as
well
as
analysing
the
most
high-profile
cases
of
corruption
that
have
affected
the
organisation
in
recent
years.
The
cases
analysed
include
the
high-profile
case
of
disgraced
former
NBA
referee
Tom
Donaghy,
the
doping
problems
facing
players
such
as
Chris
Andersen
and
Hedo
Trkolu
and
the
many
theories
of
corruption
based
around
the
current
NBA
commissioner,
David
Stern.
The
report
will
then
be
concluded
by
looking
at
the
implications
corruption
and
integrity
issues
has
on
the
NBA,
its
stakeholders
and
the
wider
sport
industry
and
offer
recommendations
on
how
the
league
could
manage
corruption
more
efficiently
in
the
future.
What
is
Corruption?
The
implications
that
face
sport
in
the
adversity
of
corruption
is
not
a
new
phenomenon
and
according
to
Maennig
(2005)
corruption
in
sport
can
be
traced
back
to
as
early
as
the
Olympic
Games
in
388BC.
However,
as
sport
has
moved
through
the
sports
development
framework
(appendix
1),
increasing
popularity
of
many
sports
has
led
to
them
becoming
much
more
of
a
target
for
individuals
and
groups
of
people
wanting
to
take
advantage
of
the
lucrative
nature
of
the
industry.
(Gorse
&
Chadwick,
2011).
Parallel
to
the
increased
popularity
of
a
number
of
sports
has
been
the
rise
of
sport
betting.
This
increased
popularity
has
been
driven
by
the
nexus
that
exists
between
the
media
and
sport
and
the
idea
that,
according
to
Nicholson
(2007),
their
evolution
[the
media
and
the
sport
industry],
particularly
throughout
the
twentieth
century,
has
resulted
in
them
being
inextricably
bound
together.
Nicholson
also
stated
he
believes
that
the
relationship
that
exists
between
the
media
and
sport
is
sitting
right
at
the
core
of
contemporary
sport
and
will
be
identifiable
in
the
middle
of
any
issues
or
problems.
A
number
of
illegal
gambling
syndicates
have
sought
to
use
this
nexus
and
the
development
of
new
media
platforms
such
as
Twitter
and
the
World
Wide
Web
as
a
whole
to
their
advantage
and
defraud
betting
operators.
However,
despite
the
media
taking
some
of
the
blame
in
the
development
of
corruption
becoming
a
contemporary
issue
in
the
sporting
industry,
it
has
also
been
integral
in
helping
break
the
news
of
some
cases,
and
in
some
cases
helped
in
the
prosecution
of
guilty
individuals.
To
be
able
to
truly
gauge
the
depth
of
corruption
within
modern
sport
in
the
globalised
era,
it
is
imperative
to
ensure
that
the
term
corruption
is
correctly
defined.
Many
different
academics
have
offered
their
own
definition
as
to
what
is
meant
by
the
term
corruption
over
the
past
15
years.
In
its
plainest
form,
corruption
is
defined
as
dishonest
or
illegal
behaviour
(Collins
English
Dictionary)
and
this
definition
has
been
drawn
upon
by
both
Triesman
(2000)
and
Ashforth
&
Anand
(2003)
who
define
corruption
as
the
misuse
of
public
office
for
private
gain
and
the
misuse
of
authority
for
personal,
subunit
and/or
organisational
gain
respectively.
However,
as
pointed
out
by
Chadwick
and
Gorse
(2011)
these
definitions
are
valid
when
investigating
the
behaviour
of
sporting
officials
and
at
the
governance
level
of
sport.
This
is
proven
when
looking
at
the
case
of
the
IOC
and
the
investigations
into
the
awarding
of
host
city
rights.
With
cases
such
as
the
awarding
of
the
winter
Olympic
Games
to
Salt
Lake
City
demonstrating
an
example
of
misuse
of
authority
and
corruption
for
organisational
gain.
However,
the
above
definitions
are
less
accurate
in
defining
the
actions
committed
by
athletes
in
regards
to
corrupt
activities
at
a
personal
level.
Maennig
(2005)
acknowledged
the
need
for
a
definition
of
corruption
to
encompass
corrupt
activities
at
all
levels
and
not
solely
at
the
top/governance
levels
that
previous
definitions
had
covered.
Therefore
Maennig
(2005)
decided
to
incorporate
the
problem
of
match
fixing
into
his
revised
definition,
leading
him
to
suggest
that
in
sport, corruption may take the form of behaviour by athletes who refrain from achieving the level of performance normally required in the sport in question to win the competition and instead intentionally permit others to win [competition corruption], or behaviour by sporting officials who consciously perform their allocated tasks in a manner at variance with the objectives and moral values of the relevant club, association, competitive sports in general and/or society at large [management corruption]. Despite Maennig including match fixing into his definition of corruption and drawing a line between the grey areas of competition corruption and management corruption, his definition was criticised for failing to acknowledge doping as a form of corruption within sport. With this aspect of corruption missing from Maennigs definition, Chadwick and Gorse (2010) offered their own definition to what corruption in sport entails. Corruption in sport involves any illegal, immoral or unethical activity that attempts to deliberately distort the result of a sporting contest for the personal material gain of one or more parties involved in that activity (Gorse & Chadwick, 2010) The above definition is widely considered to be the most concise and all- encompassing definition of corruption within sport that that is yet to be published. The definition seems to have solved the problem regarding the lack of standardisation in defining corruption in sport. The above definition was devised after Chadwick & Gorse published the results of a longitudinal study that analysed competition corruption between 2000 and 2010. The results of this study can be seen in appendix 2.
With corruption being such a pertinent issue in world sport, governing bodies and leagues alike must ensure they have efficient mechanisms in place to help combat corruption. This is no different in the NBA, where they have their own anti- corruption strategies to help combat the problem and to standardise punishments. These mechanisms and strategies need to be closely monitored and dynamic in order to be effective. Under Article 35 of the NBA Constitution, the commissioner of the NBA has the authority the administer disciplinary actions in the forms of either suspensions or fines less than $50,000 to players for on-court incidents, conducts that do not conform to standards of fair play, conducts that do not comply to federal or state laws, and conducts that are detrimental to the game of basketball or the league. The 2005 collective bargaining agreement (CBA), between the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) and the NBA, said that any party can appeal to an arbitrator if any given suspension is longer than 12 games or a player is fined above the level of $50,000. Should the incident be more serious, for example longitudinal substance abuse or point shaving, players implicated can be permanently banned from competing in the league. However, those players banned for substance abuse are allowed to return to the association two years later this is after an agreement under the anti-drug agreement between the NBA and the NBPA.
In September 1983, the NBA was the first professional American sports league to implement an anti-doping program. This anti-doping act was implemented in order to try and deal with the cocaine pandemic that was running strife through the league. This cocaine problem was so serious that according to Wong (2010) it was estimated that 70% of NBA players were using cocaine and such misuse was having a detrimental affect on the leagues integrity. By 1999, The NBA and the NBPA had agreed to tougher drug laws and added marijuana and its by-products (skunk, hash, resin etc.) as well as steroids to its banned substances list. This 1999 CBA agreement also lead to the testing of veteran players through training camps a procedure that wasnt common before this agreement. Only 14 months after steroids were added to the banned substances list, in March 2000, the NBPA had commissioned its own prohibited substances committee. This committee added a raft of new steroids, including testosterone to the banned substances list (a comprehensive list of the banned substances can be seen in figure 1 below). The stringent list became more
comprehensive
at
the
beginning
of
the
2004-05
NBA
season,
where
substances
such
as
ephedra
and
cathine
were
added
to
the
list
of
banned
substances.
Date
Substances
Banned
September
1983
Amphetamine
(including,
but
not
limited
to,
methamphetamine
and
MDMA),
Cocaine,
LSD,
Opiates
(Heroin,
Codeine,
Morphine),
and
Phencyclidine
(PCP).
January
1999
Marijuana
and
its
by-products,
Steroids
(Bolasterone,
Boldenone,
Clenbuterol,
Clostebol,
Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone
,
Dromostanolone
,
Ethylestrenol,
Furazebol,
Mesterolone,
Methandienone,
Methandriol,
Methenolone,
Mibolerone,
Oxymesterone,
Trenbolone
March
2000
Steroids
(Androstenedione
(Andro),
Dehydroepiandrosterone
(DHEA),
Fluoxymesterone,
Methyltestosterone,
Nandrolone,
Oxandrolone,
Oxymetholone,
Stanozolol,
and
Testosterone)
October
2004
Ephedra
(also
called
Ma
Huang,
Bishops
Tea
and
Chi
Powder),
Ephedrine,
Methylephedrine,
Norpseudoephedrine
(also
called
Cathine),
Phenylpropanolamine
(PPA),
Pseudoephedrine
Figure
1
-
Banned
substances
in
the
NBA
The medical director in charge determines the current testing mechanism in place in the NBA. This medical director is an individual chosen jointly by both the NBA and the NBPA. Through the current mechanism players are allowed to voluntarily admit using a prohibited substance and seek treatment through a programme developed by the NBPA to help treat and rehabilitate stricken athletes. Should a player voluntarily admit to using a substance they will not be penalised, unless they fail to cooperate with the treatment arranged by the NBPA. Should the NBA or NBPA receive any information that suggests a player is breaking the anti-doping code they may request a hearing with the accused party that involves the case being heard by an independent expert. Should the independent expert believe the case has substance, the NBA will proceed to test the accused four times over the six-week period immediately after the case has been heard. Alongside this, the 2005 CBA finally agreed to the random drug testing of all NBA players up to four times throughout the course of the NBA season. This test is designed to discover the use of those drugs prohibited by the NBA.
The
penalties
that
are
currently
in
place
for
the
NBA
in
regards
to
being
found
guilty
of
doping
vary
substantially,
based
on
a
number
of
factors.
These
factors
include
the
substance
involved
in
the
case
and
the
circumstances
in
which
the
accused
is
discovered
to
be
using
said
substance.
The
NBAs
policy
is
in
some
ways
very
similar
to
that
of
the
National
Football
League
(NFL),
in
that
if
a
doping
offence
is
bought
to
light
in
a
violation
of
federal
or
state
law,
then
the
punishment
is
increased.
However,
the
NBAs
policy
also
differs
to
the
NFLs
in
that
the
NFL
has
harsher
punishments
in
the
use
of
performance
enhancing
drugs
(PEDs),
such
as
steroids.
Whereas
the
NBA
punishes
the
use
of
what
are
considered
street
drugs
more
severely.
These
street
drugs
are
substances
such
as
cocaine
and
opiates
including
heroin
and
codeine.
Figure
2
below
shows
a
breakdown
of
the
NBAs
punishments
in
line
with
their
substance
policy.
The
NBAs
drug
abuse
policy
below
can
be
compared
to
the
policies
of
other
US
major
sport
leagues
as
shown
in
appendix
3.
Substance
First
Offense
Second
Offense
Third
Offense
Steroids
20-game
suspension
45-game
suspension
Disqualification
from
the
league
Marijuana
No
penalty
enter
A
fine
re-enter
5-game
suspension
program
program
re-enter
program
Others
(Drugs
Disqualification
N/A
N/A
1 2 of
Abuse )
from
the
league
Figure
2
The
NBAs
Substance
Policy
(Correct
as
of
the
2011-2012
season)
Despite the punishments for doping being increased as a result of the 2011 CBA, there has still been widespread criticism in the way in which the NBA conducts doping tests. The director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), David Howman, is one of these critiques. Howman was quoted as saying they've got gaps in their program, between what they do and what we suggest would be better. These gaps in the testing will be elaborated upon in the recommendations section of this report, along with ideas and practices that could help the NBA close these gaps.
After the Tim Donaghy scandal that will be detailed later in this report and the numerous allegations and cases of point shaving within both the NBA and the NCAA, the NBA has developed its own anti-gambling policy to try and combat this happening in the future. As part of the 2005 CBA, strict guidelines have been put in place to ensure that betting or wagering on NBA games by referees, players, coaches, trainers or other team or league employees is non-existent with the NBA stating that it is entirely inconsistent with fair and honest competition and has no place in our sport. In line with these guidelines all referees are prohibited from betting or wagering on any NBA game and any violation of this rules will lead to expulsion from the NBA. In 1 Drugs of abuse includes, but is not exclusive to: cocaine, speed, heroin, LSD 2 Players may be reinstated into the league at the end of a two year period
addition to this, and to try and stop NBA referees from becoming intertwined with gambling problems and circles, the NBA also are generally prohibited from gambling in any manner and not exclusive to NBA or sports betting. Any violation of this rule will lead to the referee in question going in front of a disciplinary panel. In order to prevent the misuse of confidential information by illegal organised crime syndicates in their aim of fixing NBA contests, the NBA has made it illegal for referees to disclose their schedule of game assignments to anyone apart from immediate family members. Any violation of this rule will also result in the referee being part of a disciplinary procedure. The NBA have also set up a hotline that referees should call should they be approached regarding any suspicious activity and provide their officials with a handbook that tells them what they can and cant do and offers help should they become addicted to betting.
Anti-Tanking policy
Like other major US sports leagues, the NBA adopts a draft system that allows the franchises in the NBA to draft what they believe are the best college players within that draft cohort that year. Prior to the 1985 draft the NBA would assemble their draft order based solely on the win-loss record of teams in the previous season. This was, and still is, the same method that is used by other sports leagues such as The NFL and MLB. However, as there were fears of some teams tanking, a practice that sees a team purposefully lose matches to increase their draft stock and in turn receive a higher draft pick, the NBA introduced the draft lottery. The draft lottery was first introduced in the 1985 draft, bringing with it a whole new corruption case detailed later in this report, and meant that all the non-playoff teams were given an equal chance of being selected as the number one pick. The lottery system was developed in 1990 to a weighted system that gave the team with the worst regular season record the best chance of obtaining the first pick in the draft. Despite this new weighted system seeming to go against the lotterys main aim of fighting tanking, it seemed to find a level ground of ensuring the worst performing teams in the league were rewarded with a higher draft pick, but they werent entirely guaranteed a high draft pick.
The most high profile cases on the above figure are the suspensions handed to Rashard Lewis and Hedo Trkolu. At the time of the failed doping test, Lewis was one of the highest paid players in the Association. He was suspended without pay for 10 matches in August 2009 after testing positive for an elevated level of testosterone. It is believed that the banned substance came from an over-the-counter supplement that Lewis had taken and he personally wasnt aware of any wrongdoing. His team, the Orlando Magic, publically backed Lewis calling the situation a very innocent mistake. The most recent case of doping in the NBA involved Turkish forward Hedo Trkolu who was suspended for 20 games without pay for testing positive for the anabolic steroid methenolone. Trkolu, who ironically also plays for the Orlando Magic, took full responsibility for the positive test and blamed medication administered by a Turkish trainer to help him in his rehabilitation from a shoulder injury. Once again, the Magic publicly backed their player. Alongside the eight cases of players testing positive for PEDs that are shown in figure 3, there has been one case of a player being disqualified from the league for violating the Associations drug policy. This player is Chris Andersen, who at the time was contracted to the New Orleans Hornets, who was banished from the league for testing positive for a banned substance in January 2006. In line with the 2005 CBA, neither the NBA or NBPA are able to release the specifics of the failed drug test, however as Andersen hadnt been found guilty of any wrongdoing in the past, it is assumed that he was found positive for using drugs of abuse. After serving his 2- year expulsion period from the league Andersen was able to request to be reinstated
as an NBA player. The NBA and the NPBA granted this request in March 2008, and Andersen returned to the New Orleans Hornets. As of May 2013, Andersen is signed to the Miami Heat and he is expected to be crowned an NBA Champion at the end of the current season.
Despite the 10 most prevalent cases of doping in the NBA since 1999, the biggest corruption scandal to hit the NBA in recent times is that of disgraced NBA referee, Tim Donaghy. In July 2007, the FBI released details of an investigation by their own division of officers that are tasked with dealing with match fixing in sports, into NBA officials betting on games in which they officiated. This investigation revealed that Tim Donaghy had bet on games in which he had officiated during the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 season and made decisions in these games to affect the point spread3 in these games. In August 2007, on the back of the revelations exposed by this investigation, Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to two federal charges of conspiracy relating to the FBI investigation. In June 2008, before being sentenced by the courts, Tim Donaghy released a statement through his lawyers that accused the NBA of instructing referees to improperly referee a number of playoff games because it was in the NBA's interest to add another game to the series. Donaghy identified games in the 2002 and 2005 play-offs as the two he believed to have been fixed by the NBA with game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals being specifically pointed out. This was a game between the LA Lakers and the Sacramento Kings in which according to Liu (2008) is considered by Kings fans the worst officiated game in sports history. In July 2008, Tim Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment with three years of supervised release and admitted that he had brought shame on myself, my family and the profession. This case was bought back into the public eye in 2009 when Donaghy, after being released from jail, released a book making claims in regards to internal corruption in the NBA. A transcript from an interview about his claims with Greta Van Susteren broadcast on Fox television can be found in appendix 4. This case and in particular the claims seen in appendix 4, elevated the conspiracy theorists belief that players tarnished with the superstar status were given special treatment by officials in the NBA to increase their marketability. An example of such preferential treatment is that in the 2006 FIBA World Championships, LeBron James went to the foul line an average 2.2 times per game, compared to the 13 times on average he went to the foul line in the 2008 play offs. The stark difference is that the NBA wants to sell jerseys, and with the player in question being more successful on court, his marketability stock will be more successful off court. 3 The point spread of a game directly relates to the gambling markets available on a game. Point spreading is used to even the odds between two teams and offers a points handicap to the underdog
A
Corrupt
Commissioner?
David
Stern
has
been
involved
with
the
NBA
since
1966
when
he
was
appointed
as
an
outside
counsel.
By
1984,
he
was
given
the
role
of
the
leagues
commissioner,
which
is
a
role
that
he
still
holds
today.
Throughout
his
29
year
tenure
at
the
helm
of
the
association
Stern
has
seen
the
NBA
go
through
a
massive
popularity
and
commercial
boom.
However,
despite
Stern
being
seen
as
a
catalyst
of
this
boom
there
are
many
that
believe
he
hasnt
always
acted
in
a
correct
just
manner
in
his
role.
The
first
of
such
incidents
came
in
the
1985
draft.
As
previously
mentioned,
the
1985
draft
was
the
first
draft
that
was
preceded
by
a
draft
lottery
and
this
is
where
the
leagues
first
apparent
case
of
internal
corruption
happened.
Stern,
a
self-confessed
New
York
Knicks
fan,
was
given
the
responsibility
of
picking
one
of
seven
envelopes
out
of
a
clear
plastic
box.
The
envelopes
all
contained
logos
of
the
seven
teams
with
the
worst
records
in
the
previous
season
and
Stern
was
given
the
responsibility
of
choosing
which
team
would
have
the
number
1
pick
of
the
1985
draft.
As
all
of
the
envelopes
were
put
in
the
tumbler,
one
of
them
was
placed
in
forcibly,
causing
the
envelope
to
bang
on
the
edge
and
cause
the
envelope
to
develop
an
upturned
corner.
Stern
picked
the
one
envelope
with
the
upturned
corner,
despite
it
being
one
of
the
most
unnatural
envelopes
to
pick.
This
envelope
turned
out
to
include
the
logo
of
the
New
York
Knicks,
who
drafted
future
NBA
Hall-of-Famer
Patrick
Ewing
with
many
believing
the
NBA
wanted
such
a
player
to
be
drafted
to
a
large
market
team
such
as
the
Knicks
to
increase
television
revenues.
Another
big
controversy
that
has
affected
the
integrity
of
the
Association
is
the
situation
with
the
NBA
owning
one
of
the
leagues
franchises.
In
December
2010,
the
NBA
purchased
the
bankrupt
New
Orleans
Hornets
for
a
fee
believed
to
be
around
$300m.
The
purchase
of
the
franchise
caused
murmurs
in
the
sporting
world
with
many
questioning
the
conflict
of
interest
that
must
have
been
present
in
the
league
having
a
controlling
stake
in
one
of
its
franchises.
However,
it
wasnt
until
the
following
December
that
this
conflict
of
interest
was
really
called
into
question
after
a
situation
involving
the
Hornets
star
player
Chris
Paul
requesting
to
be
traded
away
from
the
Hornets.
The
Hornets
had
agreed
a
three-team
trade
that
would
have
seen
Paul
traded
to
the
LA
Lakers
however
Stern
vetoed
this
trade
for
what
an
NBA
spokesperson
would
only
describe
as
basketball
reasons.
Both
NBA
coaches
and
journalists
alike
criticised
this
situation
with
then
Lakers
coach,
Phil
Jackson
publicly
criticising
the
NBAs
collective
ownership
of
the
Hornets
and
respected
NBA
reporter,
Bill
Russell
stating
that
the
situation
was
one
of
the
biggest
conflicts
of
interest
in
sports
history.
This
was
a
league
intentionally
jeopardizing
its
own
credibility.
This
was
a
scandal
popping
out
of
thin
air,
self-created,
almost
like
a
man- made
lake
or
something.
The
final
controversy
surrounding
the
leagues
ownership
of
the
New
Orleans
franchise
came
to
light
during
the
2012
NBA
draft
lottery,
where
the
Hornets
won
the
number
one
pick
all
with
only
a
13%
chance
of
doing
so.
Despite
the
fact
that
it
is
a
common
occurrence
that
a
team
with
a
low
percentage
chance
of
winning
the
lottery seems to do so, it cant be ignored that the player speculated to go first in the NBA draft Anthony Davis, is considered to be one of the best players to enter the league in recent years. Although this could well be pure coincidence, the integrity of the league has once again been affected due to the NBA owning the Hornets. The NBA finally sold the franchise to Tom Benson for $338m in April 2012.
Implications
Despite
the
NBA
facing
these
corruption
allegations
and
going
through
a
number
of
crisis
over
the
past
15
or
so
years,
the
league
has
still
managed
to
grow
in
terms
of
commercial
revenue
and
worldwide
popularity.
In
the
large
part
this
is
down
to
the
amount
of
money
sports
brands
such
as
Nike,
Reebok
and
Adidas
have
spent
on
endorsing
and
marketing
individual
athletes
such
as
LeBron
James,
Michael
Jordan
and
Shaquille
ONeal.
The
NBA
has
also
seen
tremendous
growth
in
China
and
Europe
over
the
past
10
years,
making
it
a
commercial
and
globalised
sports
league.
However,
what
if
it
was
it
to
emerge
that
the
great
Chicago
Bulls
team
of
the
early-1990s
were
taking
PEDs?
What
effect
would
this
have
on
the
sport
and
on
the
players
on
that
great
team,
taking
into
consideration
that
the
team
included
Michael
Jordan,
a
player
and
brand
that
is
the
face
of
basketball
and
of
Nike
worldwide?
The
following
chapter
will
look
at
what
the
true
implications
of
corrupt
behaviour
in
the
NBA
has
had
on
a
number
of
key
stakeholders
including
the
media,
league
sponsors,
the
supporters
and
betting
regulators.
Sponsors
Corruption within any sport, not only basketball, could have a massive effect upon the sponsors and associated partners of the sport, sporting individual or sporting event as a whole. Chadwick (2013) stated that he believes this has developed due to sponsors seeing the tarnished image of their sponsored property being transferred to the sponsor itself. Sport sponsorship, and the revenue generated through it, has increased massively in recent years in line with the sport development framework displayed in appendix 1. A Sport Marketing Survey estimated the true value of the sponsorship market within sport in 2009 to be worth 79% of the total global sponsorship market size. This revenue garnered through sponsorship has helped sport develop and become central within many peoples lives in the modern day. Despite the large value of sponsorship for sporting organisations, it is necessary to consider what has been said by Chadwick (2013) and understand that sponsors do not want to associate themselves with a sporting entity that is found to be corrupt. With the need for the revenue that the sponsors provide, they are now much more of a salient stakeholder with them holding the three characteristics identified by Mitchell et al. (1997). This increased stakeholder salience means that sponsors now have more authority and power in potentially kicking corrupt behaviour out of a sport. This idea has been described by Chadwick (2013) as market driven morality and has been apparent in two cases of sponsors and their reaction to corrupt behaviour in recent years. These two cases are based around Emirates Airlines, who ended their association with FIFA in light of their recent corruption scandals, and
Skins, who instigated a programme entitled Change Cycling Now which was an initiative to try and rid the sport of the problems that it has faced over recent years. Many of the NBAs top players have massive endorsement deals with the elite players such as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant raking in over $40m in endorsement deals with large organisations such as Samsung, Nike, State Farm, Audemars Piquet and Hublot. These endorsement deals are for massive amounts of money and over a long period of time and poses the question that was a player of their stature to be found guilty of any corrupt behaviour would they drop the athletes to help uphold their reputation. However, as mentioned earlier it could be argued that these players are already an accessory of corrupt behaviour in the way in which referees apparently favour the more elite and marketable players in foul calls, leading to increased numbers on the boards, and ultimately a better player. Despite these allegations the sponsors still continue to invest huge amounts of money into these players and market them to a worldwide audience, this could link to what was said by Carpenter (2013) that US sport is more about entertainment than competition and therefore sees less emphasis on preventing corruption resulting in sponsors seeing this lack of emphasis and internal corruption as a way to enhance their brand and profits.
Media
Due to the media and sport nexus that was detailed earlier in this report, there has been a large hike in the way that these two industries have become linked together and the power that the media has as a stakeholder has increased significantly as a result. With the raft of sport media conglomerates that exist in the United States such as ESPN, there is a constant need for these organisations to fill their publications with news, either positive or negative, about sport. Sport has become such a massive phenomenon world-wide it has become common for sport news to be on the front page of media outlets as well as the back pages. In the initial phase of a corruption case, media outlets are more than likely to experience a hike in sales and website hits as everyone will want to read the reports and find out about the details about the case. There is also the conflict of interest that many of these media outlets will possess. Media conglomerates such as ESPN, Fox Sports and NBC all spend huge amounts of money to receive the broadcasting rights to show live NBA matches. This in turn allows them to raise money through advertisement sales during their live broadcasts that bring in huge amounts of money for the broadcasters. Therefore, with this in mind, how much will these outlets want to discuss the reports of corruption within sports when they are relying on the sport to stay popular in order for them to stay profitable? My view is that this conflict of interest is an area which needs to be explored in more detail to fully understand the extent of the problem.
Conclusion
The
main
aim
of
this
report
was
to
analyse
corruption
within
the
NBA
by
looking
at
the
leagues
anti-corruption
mechanisms
and
analysing
major
cases
of
corruption
in
the
sport.
After
analysing
the
differing
views
from
academics
on
the
concise
definition
of
corruption
in
sport,
I
was
able
to
pinpoint
that
the
definition
offered
by
Chadwick
&
Gorse
(2010)
was
the
all-encompassing
definition
and
the
one
that
fits
best.
I
believe
it
is
imperative
to
consider
the
views
of
sports
lawyer,
Kevin
Carpenter,
who
stated
that
US
sport
is
more
about
entertainment
than
competition
and
therefore
sees
less
emphasis
on
preventing
corruption
(2013).
I
believe
this
statement
is
particularly
interesting
when
you
look
at
how
lenient
the
NBA
are
on
the
use
of
PEDs
that
have
the
potential
to
increase
the
entertainment
factor
of
the
sport.
An
analysis
of
the
current
anti-corruption
mechanisms
in
place
in
the
NBA
showed
where
there
are
potential
gaps
and
grey
areas.
These
gaps
are
especially
prevalent
in
the
doping
tests
adopted
by
the
NBA,
but
are
also
visible
in
its
other
anti-corruption
mechanisms.
With
these
grey
areas
identified
I
have
been
able
to
offer
a
number
of
recommendations
to
the
NBA
in
helping
closing
the
gaps
in
their
testing
and
help
uphold
the
integrity
of
the
league.
The
analysis
of
the
high-profile
cases
of
corruption
in
the
NBA
also
leaves
some
suspicions
in
my
mind
that
the
league
is
corrupt
from
within.
The
lack
of
transparency
displayed
by
both
the
NBA
and
NBPA
in
regards
to
all
reported
corrupt
activity
doesnt
help
rebuild
the
leagues
integrity,
neither
does
it
offer
logical
explanations
to
what
could
well
be
simple
coincidences
but
are
now
fully-blown
conspiracy
theories
to
many.
The
news
that
David
Stern
is
set
to
step
down
from
his
position
of
commissioner
in
2014
could
very
well
be
a
defining
moment
in
the
NBA
and
its
problems
with
internal,
management
corruption.
However,
the
fact
that
the
next
commissioner
is
currently
Sterns
assistant
may
well
mean
the
league
doesnt
enter
a
new
era
under
new
stewardship
and
that
it
will
continue
to
be
run
as
it
has
over
the
past
30
years.
Only
time
will
tell.
Recommendations
The
following
part
of
this
report
will
outline
recommendations
for
the
NBA
in
how
they
can
improve
their
anti-corruption
strategies
and
in-turn
improve
the
integrity
of
the
league.
Increased
Transparency
With
the
league
running
its
own
anti-doping
programme
and
the
allegations
of
corruption
against
the
commissioner,
David
Stern,
the
NBAs
ability
to
police
itself
internally
has
to
be
called
into
question.
To
help
increase
the
integrity
of
the
league
and
the
validity
of
its
anti-doping
program,
the
league
should
seek
the
support
of
the
US
anti-doping
agency
to
help
validate
and
police
their
anti-doping
policies.
The
league
and
the
NBPA
should
also
re-consider
some
of
the
points
agreed
in
the
CBA
in
regards
to
how
strict
the
rules
are
on
the
transparency
of
failed
tests.
I
believe
the
league
should
seek
to
make
the
NBPA
allow
the
release
of
the
finer
details
of
failed
drug
tests
to
ensure
all
of
the
leagues
stakeholders
are
informed
of
the
situation
and
receive
the
whole
picture.
Biological Passports
The idea of biological passports have become commonplace for athletes competing in a number of different sports such as cycling and other endurance sports. The football world governing body, FIFA, are also working with WADA to implement them into world football prior to the 2014 World Cup. Biological passports consist of assessing athletes blood profiles all year round, to look for trends and fluctuations that appear when an athlete is doping. When any suspicious patterns are discovered the athlete is then subjected to further testing. Should the NBA and the NBPA be able to come to an agreement in regards to allowing blood testing in the NBA, then biological passports should be bought into the NBA to ensure a standardised doping strategy.
With the advances in technology and medicines, cheating is becoming a lot more sophisticated. This level of advance has meant that a drug could potentially be administered pre-testing which would ensure an athlete would pass an upcoming drug test. Currently the National Center for Drug Free Sport (NCDFS) who are the contractor for collecting drug samples in the NBA, are given a random list of athletes to test that day. Neither the NBA or NBPA have any advance notice of the players on
this list and this is something that has worked well in ensuring internal corruption isnt common. However, the actual testing procedure is where the gaps lie. With the trainer being responsible to round up all the players for testing, there is a time that elapses where a player learns he is about to be tested and the test taking place. It is imperative that in this time, the athletes are given no time alone in order to potentially beat the test through administering another drug into their system. The NBA and the NBPA must work more closely with the NCDFS to help ensure tests are entirely random and can happen at any given time and place. One way in which the NBA and the NCDFS could implement this is through introducing a whereabouts rule. This rule would require all NBA players to make the NCDFS aware of where they were to be located for a given hour timeslot every day. The NCDFS can then randomly turn up at this location and test the athlete on the spot.
Ensure
young
and
new
athletes
coming
into
the
NBA
are
educated
correctly
With
the
draft
system
that
exists
in
the
NBA
and
the
recent
influx
of
players
entering
the
league
from
different
nations,
the
association
must
ensure
players
are
correctly
educated
in
its
policies
against
corruption.
This
is
especially
important
considering
the
problems
that
have
marred
the
NCAA
in
regards
to
point
shaving
and
wider
match
fixing
allegations.
With
players
in
the
NCAA
not
receiving
a
level
of
remuneration
matching
the
stature
of
the
competition
for
their
efforts,
the
temptation
to
become
involved
in
corrupt
behaviour
is
elevated.
With
this
in
mind,
there
is
a
possibility
that
once
these
individuals
are
part
of
organised
crime
syndicates
they
bring
this
association
with
them
into
the
NBA.
This
also
has
the
potential
to
happen
with
players
who
come
across
from
international
locations,
should
they
have
become
involved
in
these
organised
crime
syndicates
in
their
native
country.
This
worry
is
especially
prevalent
in
the
importation
of
Chinese
players
into
the
NBA.
Despite
the
NBA
trying
hard
to
break
the
Chinese
market
and
help
develop
basketball
in
the
country
and
the
NBA
brand
in
China
there
is
worries
that
due
to
China
being
a
hotbed
for
corruption
within
sport,
the
players
that
move
to
the
NBA
may
already
be
altercated
with
organised
crime
gangs.
The NBA and the NBPA could potentially screen all the players that apply for draft eligibility and potentially introduce a fit-and-proper test to ensure the players have no previous or current links with organised crime syndicates. This should be done with the help of current and ex professionals, not only from basketball, but from a variety of sports that have either been approached by these gangs or accused of or found guilty of match-fixing. These athletes may be able to help the players new to the NBA understand the real problems and implications of becoming involved with these organised crime syndicates.
Appendices
Commercialisation Commercialisation is the stage that many professional sports are currently at. It is seen as a revolutionary process which is described as 'the sport develops an overtly business context, external organisations see the opportunity of using the sport for their own purposes, typically marketing in the form of sponsorship (Beech & Chadwick, 2004). This process of commercialisation has resulted in massively inflated revenue streams for many sporting organisations and therefore the importance of financial management becoming more relevant to sport managers. The main source of revenue for many football clubs within England is received through television broadcasting agreements. This greater exposure has led to sponsors wanting to become involved with sporting organisations and coincidentally leading to a new approach of trying to maximise revenue even more so through merchandise sales. Below are two figures that have been drawn up by Beech (2010) that show revenue streams in the case of football clubs and the differences between the professionalised era and the commercialised era. The Professionalised era
Globalisation Globalisation isn't a stage that is directly recognised by the sport development framework but it does have similarities with the post-commercialisation era that is recognised as part of the framework. The term 'Globalisation' is a more widely used business term that has been developed due to advances in general business practice. BBC News (2008) described globalisation; 'this process is not new, but its pace and scope has accelerated in recent years, to embrace more industries and more countries.' This description was also backed up by Anitat (2002) who described it as 'the process through which an increasingly free flow of ideas, peoples, goods and services and capital leads to the integration of economies and societies.' Within sport globalisation has added impetus to international rivalries that date in the modern era from the 1896 Olympic Games Hill (2006). This increased exposure has benefited many sports and where sports such as soccer, cricket, tennis & golf have been global for years, less well-known sports are also benefiting such as lacrosse, table tennis and field hockey. However, according to Giulianotti (2002) no single sport has benefited from its global exposures as much as soccer. This idea is partly described in the figure below which was devised by Hall (2006) and looks at how Manchester United have risen to be the global brand that they now are.
Appendix
2:
The
results
of
the
study
of
the
prevalence
of
corruption
in
international
sport
by
Gorse
&
Chadwick
(2010)
Figure 4 - Corruption in International Sport, taken from Chadwick & Gorse (2011)
Figure 5 - Doping Cases in International Sport, taken from Chadwick & Gorse (2011)
Table 1 - Table of Doping Cases by Sport (2000-2010), taken from Chadwick & Gorse (2011)
Figure 6 - Match Fixing Cases in International Sport, taken from Chadwick & Gorse (2011)
Figure 7 - Attempts to Defraud Betting Operators by Geographical Area (2000-2010), taken from Chadwick & Gorse (2011)
Appendix
3:
US
sport
leagues
drug
policies
The
National
Football
League
(NFL)
Appendix
4:
A
transcript
of
an
interview
between
Tom
Donaghy
and
Greta
Van
Susteren
Donaghy:
One
player
where
referees
targeted
on
a
continuous
basis
was
Rasheed
Wallace.
He
was
one
of
those
guys
that
just
constantly
--
seemed
to
go
out
of
his
way
to
embarrass
referees.
And
when
you
do
that
to
the
referee
staff,
you
know,
at
times
they
would
come
together,
and
basically
try
to
put
him
in
his
place,
or
try
to
get
him
in
a
position
where,
you
know,
he
would
stop
doing
what
he
was
doing.
Van Susteren: So there are the NBA players who sort of get the harsher treatment, deliberately. Are there any NBA players who are particularly well liked, or favorites that get a pass? Where maybe they've fouled somebody, or did palming or traveling, and everyone said, 'Let's let him go'? Donaghy: I mean, there are situations, and the referees are trained in the fact that, obviously, you don't want to be throwing the stars out of the game, or you don't want to be giving a star a foul that you can give to somebody else who's in that area. Van Susteren: You mean, you'd deliberately pick who you give the foul to? I mean, if there's a collision of players, you'd pick who you'd give the foul to? Donaghy: Sure. Van Susteren: So that someone who might be near the limit on the fouls and who might be a star might not get it, but you'd give it to somebody else? Donaghy: Absolutely. Van Susteren: Deliberately? Donaghy: Deliberately. Van Susteren: And was that discussed beforehand and afterwards, you know, we're going to do this if the situation arises or something like it. And afterwards, good job, you did that? Donaghy: Well, it's the way that you were trained. Obviously you don't want to give a Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O'Neal or LeBron James a foul that may be his second or third foul in the first quarter, to where he's going to have to go to the bench. I mean, it was openly discussed in meetings that, you know, people paid big dollars to see these stars on the floor. So if there's a situation where you can have two people to pick from, you're certainly not going to pick one of them, you're going to pick someone that's the sixth, seventh, or eighth man on that team. Van Susteren: And that's expressly said, that that's what you should do. Donaghy: Absolutely it is.
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(2013)
Kobe
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LeBron
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