I just loved the game of basketball growing up and my goal was to somehow be a part of it.
I do believe Allen Iverson knew this, and I believe all the players know this: that certain referees treat them much better than others.
We all have choices to make in life. And when we decide to go down that wrong road we'd be better off backing up and realizing that not only do you affect your life with some terrible choices, but the lives of people you love the most, and that's your family.
Not only did I not like officiating his games, I was afraid at times he was going to knock my block off... there was nothing you could do to get the guy on your side... with saying that, I've talked to Rasheed Wallace in the last couple of years and he's nothing but a complete gentleman off the floor.
Some officials are afraid to blow the whistle with 20,000 people screaming and yelling at them. Some officials love to have the crowd go against them.
In the future you're going to be able to go into a 7-Eleven and buy a ticket on a game, and people who don't use gambling as often as others do, like the people who go and buy lottery tickets, there's going to be more opportunity for people to do it. And with people casually gambling throughout the country, it's going to generate a lot of money.
I still see referees officiating based on names on the front and back of jerseys and not based on how the rules are written in the rule book.
I got caught up with gambling at the golf course, the backroom card games at the casinos with buddies there, and eventually betting on sporting events. I think it became a situation where I got consumed by it and loved every minute of it.
I knew there were certain relationships that existed between referees and players, referees and coaches and referees and owners that influence the point spreads in games.
When you talk about gambling and the euphoria that comes with it, making winning picks is what excites you.
I lived with my parents until I was 27.
It's mostly the coaches the refs don't like. Like Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich. Jackson is a master at setting up refs, always telling them they're against his team, playing mind games.
Absolutely, when you talk about the embarrassment that I caused in 2007 for myself, my family, the NBA, it was embarrassing then, and it's as embarrassing now seeing it play out in a movie 10 years later. It's tough to watch it. Every time I watch it, I cringe through the whole thing.
I wish I could turn back time. Unfortunately, I can't.
A Brooklyn-Miami matchup would bring great ratings and that's what this is all about for the NBA and the league offices - bringing in as many dollars as they can.
I started stuffing wads of cash into my socks and underwear and quietly passed by the T.S.A. agents with a grin on my face and a sigh of relief.
The bottom line is the NBA is going to do whatever they can do to create more revenue.
There's no doubt that there is star treatment. It's discussed in the meetings. Obviously, people don't pay an enormous amount of money to sit in those courtside seats to see players like Kobe, LeBron, Shaq - all the greats - sit on the bench and be in foul trouble.
I don't really need to bury the NBA. I just want the truth to be known about what I did and how I did it.
I was in a unique position to predict the outcome of NBA games. Some of my picks included games I had been assigned to referee.
