Four Blind Mice: How Professional Sport Hides Its Corruption From Fans

In 1982, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was tipped off that members of the NBA's New York Knicks were shaving points—that is, fixing games for betting purposes—as a favour to their cocaine dealer.

- Brian Tuohy

The FBI quickly uncovered that the dealer went from placing $500 bets on Knicks' games to wagering over $10,000 a night against the Knicks, and had won on seven of eight games.

Then, just as quickly as the plot had begun, it ceased. Apparently, the favour had been returned. With no new leads or information, the FBI closed its case on this event.

Over 30 years later, I obtained a copy of this case file from the FBI through the Freedom of Information Act, and wrote about this unreported incident and several others like it in my book Larceny Games: Sports Gambling, Game Fixing and the FBI. The New York Post discovered this story and ran a back-page feature about the Knicks and their gambling drug dealer shortly thereafter. The story went viral. CNN called my house seeking more. A local New York television station featured a report on the incident. It was seemingly everywhere overnight.

But the one place the story wasn't mentioned, either on the air or online? At ESPN, the self-proclaimed worldwide leader in sports. Could this have been because ESPN is the NBA's prime broadcast partner and pays the league over $1 billion a season to televise their games?

This story-within-a-story is a microcosm of what typically transpires in such incidents, and why it can lull sports fans into thinking that the one place in this world corruption does not and cannot reach is onto the field of play where their favourite teams and athletes perform.