A disgraced former NBA referee who bet on Phoenix Suns playoff games that he officiated was arrested in a bizarre incident earlier this week.
TMZ Sports reported Thursday that Tim Donaghy, who went to prison after wagering on NBA games that he officiated, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault after allegedly threatening a man with a hammer in Florida on Tuesday.
TMZ reported Donaghy told police he was trying to protect his daughter.
"According to the police report, Tim believed his daughter was doing drugs with a friend at a nearby home -- so he grabbed a hammer and went to get her," TMZ said. "While Tim was arguing with his daughter outside the home, he was confronted by another man -- the father of his daughter's friend.
"The man claims Tim brandished the hammer and threatened to use it if he came any closer. Police were called and Tim was arrested for aggravated assault."
A 13-year NBA official, Donaghy was fired and served prison time after it was revealed he bet on games he officiated, including multiple games in the Suns' 2007 Western Conference Finals series against the San Antonio Spurs -- a series the Suns lost. Later, Donaghy asserted that the NBA's supervisor of officials in that series "had a dislike" for Suns owner Robert Sarver and did what he could to ensure a Spurs victory.
