Editorial: Technical foul

Thursday, July 26, 2007 | 7:10 a.m.

Some people are already arguing that the NBA betting scandal should preclude Las Vegas from ever landing a team, but such thoughtless arguments ignore the facts.

The lesson here is one becoming clear to NBA Commissioner David Stern, who has cited legal sports gambling in his opposition to putting a team here.

"I understand why Las Vegas says that it is actually the check on illegal gambling," Stern said Tuesday at a news conference to address the FBI's investigation of former referee Tim Donaghy. He allegedly placed bets on NBA games with illegal bookies.

Stern said Nevada gaming regulators work with the NBA to spot any trouble, and he said the NBA employs a consultant in Las Vegas to watch for any strange movement in the odds that might indicate a fixed game.

Stern said the last time there was such an incident, the game was taken off the board and the NBA was notified by Nevada officials. That was two decades ago.

That proves what we have said all along: Nevada has a mechanism to catch cheaters and it works.

Major sports leagues, however, have yet to understand that. The NBA All-Star game was played here this year after the NBA ensured that casinos would not take bets on the game, and sports betting is still an issue. Stern said he was not sure what the Donaghy case would do to Las Vegas' effort to land a team.

Those who think this should preclude Las Vegas' bid for a team ignore the reality of illegal gambling. Stern said it is not thought that Donaghy bet at any casino and added that illegal betting makes up 95 percent of sports gamwbling in America.

Stern called this scandal the work of a rogue, isolated referee. That is the way the rest of the NBA should see it and not as an impediment toward putting a team here.