(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-09-07 11:14

New York - NBA Commissioner David Stern remains convinced Tim Donaghy was the only referee to bet on league games while acknowledging the scandal created "a big hit" to the world's top basketball organization.

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown (R) has a word with NBA official Tim Donaghy during the first half in Auburn Hills, Michigan, in this April 12, 2006 file photo. [AP]

"I don't mean to suggest that there aren't some referees who may have set foot in a casino or bet in a card game," Stern told Reuters in an interview Monday in his Fifth Avenue office.

"It won't surprise me that we don't have complete compliance with our rules."

Stern, however, said he would be "very much surprised" if anyone else had acted like Donaghy, an NBA official for 13 years, who has admitted to betting on games he refereed.

Donaghy, 40, pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn federal court last month to conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting wagering information through interstate commerce.

Stern has retained former federal prosecutor Lawrence Pedowitz to conduct an internal review of any referees' gambling activities and officiating policies.

Pedowitz and his team would interview all 60 of the league's referees on "gambling and integrity and the issue of the overall effectiveness of our officiating program," said Stern.

"We'll hopefully have made significant progress by the beginning of the regular season (in late October)," he said.

The commissioner said he was unsure if he would interview Donaghy, whom he referred to as "the criminal," because he no longer worked for the league and faced 25 years in prison.

Stern added the 61-year-old NBA took "a big hit" with the scandal but said what the league did now is crucial.

"You judge somebody not by the bad situations that occur because those are guaranteed," he said. "We'll see how we respond and then we'll be judged."

The NBA would have another year of record attendance, teams were selling sponsorships at a record rate and the league now had 19 marketing partners, the commissioner said.

NBA clubs are continuing their overseas push with the Boston Celtics, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors conducting training camps and playing exhibition games in six European cites in four countries.

China has become such a crucial market, the league is setting up a separate company, NBA China, to develop a plan there. Latin America, India, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea are also on the league's radar screen.

Stern said the league's revenues continued to rise with new technologies.

"I made the first TV deal with cable in 1979," he said. "And it was $400,000. I think it's fair to say in '09, 30 years later, it will probably be $700 million."

"You would have taken me away in a straight-jacket if I had suggested (in 1979) it would go from $400,000 to $700 million in any time frame."

The 64-year-old Stern, who became commissioner in 1984, said expansion "is not on the table."

"The owners can wrestle me to the ground, trample me and go rushing for the dollars, but I don't think so," he said. "I think that 30 teams is a good number."