Mike Celizic

David Stern’s pain was evident in almost every sentence he spoke, as was his sincerity in assuring the NBA’s fans that the league is doing everything it possibly can to assure the integrity of its officials.

It’s just too bad that sincerity and pain can’t translate into trust. On the contrary, Stern’s recitation of the measures the NBA takes to insure the integrity of the product could easily bring one to the conclusion that it’s impossible to ever fully trust what we’re seeing.

Think about it. The NBA, by Stern’s testimony, employs a security apparatus that includes people who have worked for the FBI, the CIA, New York City Police, New York State Police, the DEA and local law enforcement agencies in every NBA city. And all of these top law-enforcement professionals could not catch what Stern called a "rogue" ref.

This isn’t Osama bin Laden hiding in the mountains of Pakistan, protected by friendly villagers and soldiers. This is Tim Donaghy, a guy with a temper who lived first in suburban Philadelphia and then in Florida, hiding in plain view on basketball courts around the nation.

Not only was he in plain view, but in the beginning of 2005 the league learned that Donaghy had problems with a neighbor and was charged with harassment. It also heard a report that he had been gambling in an Atlantic City casino, an act that would call for instant dismissal.

Armed with those reports, the NBA’s mighty security force swung into operation, called him in, put investigators on his track, did everything within its legal power, and never got a whiff of the gambling Donaghy was involved in.

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And if the NBA couldn’t find Donaghy until he got kicked up by the feds in a gambling investigation, how can any fan every look at a questionable call and not wonder whether this is another rogue ref at work? How can anyone ever be utterly convinced of the integrity of the product?

I don’t doubt Stern’s sincerity. Nor do I doubt that the commissioner is doing everything in his power to see to it that this doesn’t happen again.

He’s been an outstanding commissioner and, from my own experience with him, a fine and decent human being.

But for all the answers he gave in his press conference, the big question remains unresolved: Why should be believe what we’re seeing is legitimate?

Look. The odds are great that the referees are honest. They make a lot of money — Donaghy made $260,000 this past season as a 13-year veteran. So, unless they have a gambling problem, they shouldn’t have a great deal of incentive to cheat.