Ex-NBA Referee Who Threatened Guy With A Hammer Has Had A Tough Run

Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy was arrested Tuesday in Florida for aggravated assault, after allegedly threatening to hit a man with a hammer.

On Thursday, TMZ Sports reported Donaghy, who previously served prison time on federal charges for a betting scandal involving NBA games, told police he took a hammer to collect his daughter as he thought she was using drugs with a friend. While attempting to bring her home, he reportedly got into an argument with the friend's father, and it's alleged he threatened the man with the hammer.

Full story here.

I mean this is tough. One day you’re living your dream as a referee in the NBA, and the next you’re looking back on a disgraced career, not even allowed to defend your daughter with a hammer anymore. It’s a swift fall from grace for sure. You’re on top of the world and then you fall.

I mean facing federal prison time is a pretty big bummer in and of itself, but come on, Donaghy’s a rehabilitated man! You’ve got to let this guy do his tough guy father act! I mean what other reason is there to get out of prison? You do your time, you pay your debt (or in Donaghy’s case, your gambling debt) and then you resume an anonymous existence.

Donaghy ended up brandishing a hammer when he suspected his  daughter was doing drugs with her friend. We ended up with a classic dad on dad argument which I imagine went something along the lines of “Your kid loves drugs!” “No, your kid loves drugs!” and hey whadya know the hammer came out. Well, while I’m sure that  was exciting for everyone involved, that’s not even that cool of a hammer threatening! I was hoping for an Oldboy type scenario,

but instead we got a scene out of a PG-13 version of Cheaper By The Dozen. We’ve got to let guys like Donaghy live his life. He was terrible NBA ref, a terrible gambling NBA ref, maybe a decent federal prisoner, but let’s give him a chance to be a great dad.