Stern, NBA duck Donaghy disgrace

David Stern is one of the most PR savvy commissioners that we have ever seen run a major sports league in this country, but his latest handling of the Tim Donaghy situation might shade his legacy in a negative light.
Stern announced Tuesday that the league would delay the release of an independent probe into NBA officials, an investigation prompted by Donaghy's guilty plea to rigging games and gambling heavily on their outcomes during his career. Lawrence Pedowitz, a former federal prosecutor, is conducting the interviews and finding the facts with all the relevant parties, attempting to determine just how deep the corruption ran while Donaghy fixed regular season and playoff games for gambles with ties to organized crime.
Stern insists that Donaghy is a "rogue official" and a "criminal" to hear him tell it, lawyer speak that's meant to destroy Donaghy's credibility before he utters a word in public. The league said Tuesday that Pedowitz needs more time to prepare his report, and multiple sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that Pedowitz is still hoping to speak to Donaghy now that the federal investigation into his case is over. If Stern has his way, no new information that Donaghy has will find its way into the report.
It's an open secret how poor the officiating is in the NBA, to the point where the cries of fixed games and tanked calls to extend playoff series and boost television revenues have become a sick joke. Donaghy's plea deal and jail term bring a hard edge into the discussion, an uneasiness that Stern can't dismiss with a smug comment and his forced smile. The fact that Pedowitz's report is being delayed can be taken two ways -- the league is attempting to cushion the blow by putting some time between Donaghy's disgrace and its own findings, or it's found much more than it wanted to and has to find a way to spin the results to the public.
The first scenario can be dealt with easily. NBA referees have a very difficult job, but it's not an excuse to blow calls and coddle superstars like they seem to do on a regular basis. What is and is not a foul is harder to define because of their poor interpretation of rules that have stood for almost 100 years. Traveling doesn't exist anymore, carrying the ball is common practice and contact in the paint is a coin flip on a call or non-call. Referees need to be reviewed based on their performance and the lower end of the curve has to be replaced regardless of age or experience, a decision that will give the players and fans more confidence that the game will not be decided by an errant whistle.
The second set of circumstances is much more troubling. Stern hasn't exactly been forthcoming about anything having to do with the Donaghy situation, choosing instead to blanket one man with all the blame. There's very little reason to think Stern would be honest if crooked referees were common, because the damage done to the league's credibility would be crushing. The extra time would give Stern and his cronies a chance to spin Pedowitz's findings their way, quietly dealing with other referees behind the scenes and covering up the fact that the NBA has had a serious problem on its hands that has gone unchecked for years. The scandal would be a permanent black mark on Stern's legacy, one that would erase any of the good that he's done through television deals, expanding the game into foreign markets and reigning in out of control salaries to keep more teams competitive. Donaghy would change into "truth-teller", and it's Stern who would forever be known as the rogue.