A letter from Ralph Nader and League of Fans to NBA Commissioner David Stern received nationwide attention in June 2002 for raising questions about the impartiality of officiating during Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings. Nader and League of Fans demanded that Stern conduct a review to satisfy fans' sense of fairness and to deter future recurrences of such egregious officiating.

According to reports on June 11, 2008, former referee Tim Donaghy -- who has pleaded guilty after being charged in 2007 with conspiring with gamblers -- accused NBA executives and referees of broad misconduct and outright manipulation of game results in a recent court filing.

According to Donaghy, NBA executives directed referees "to manipulate games" in order to "boost ticket sales and television ratings." Donaghy pointed to Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals as one such instance.

Following is the letter from Ralph Nader & League of Fans to Commissioner Stern regarding the egregious officiating in Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals.

In the Public Interest
by Ralph Nader

Anybody who played schoolboy sandlot baseball in Winsted, Connecticut with David Halberstam back in the nineteen forties would not have been very surprised to observe his spectacular journalistic career that took him to the civil rights struggles in the South, the war torn African and Asian continents, and the writing of some 20 books which required aggressive reporting.

By Dave Zirin

Dear LeBron:

At the tender age of 22, you have the galactic talent to make us wonder if a mad scientist had Magic and MJ genetically spliced. But talent ain't wisdom. In a recent interview, you said that your goal in sports was to become "the richest man on earth." You also told ESPN, "I'm trying to be a global icon...on the level of Muhammad Ali." These dreams are compatible only if you choose to emulate Ali the icon and not Ali the man.

The loss of David Halberstam in a traffic collision in Menlo Park, California, deprived our country of a great reporter and a great man. His journalistic sweep, manifested through original writings in articles, books and interviews, came with a knowledge of historical roots to contemporary events.

Memo to Imus: You're Fired
Dave Zirin
Edge of Sports
April 12, 2007

Time for Jackson, Sharpton to Step Down
Jason Whitlock
AOL Sports
April 13, 2007

UPDATE

Outrageous Words, Outrageous Deeds
Ralph Nader
In the Public Interest
April 16, 2007

LeBron James
Cleveland Cavaliers

Dear Mr. James:

Congratulations on your continued success as one of the NBA’s elite players. Perhaps basketball fans across the world will be able to watch you and the Cavs in the Finals very soon.

As someone who participates in many generous charitable activities, we hope you will be responsive to this appeal.

In the Public Interest
by Ralph Nader

As we settle-in to cheer on our favorite college football teams this bowl season, it's important to remember that an undisputed consolidation of power and money -- the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) -- controls which schools play in the major bowl games and National Championship game.

[*UPDATE* NBA Commissioner David Stern has announced that the old-style basketballs will return January 1, 2007 and be used through the remainder of the season. "Our players' response to this particular composite ball has been consistently negative, and we are acting accordingly," Stern said in a brief statement.]

(Letter co-signed by: Jim Bouton, former Yankee pitcher and author of Ball Four; Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and author; Neil deMause, co-author of Field of Schemes; Dave Zirin, columnist for SLAM magazine and author of What's My Name, Fool?; Robert Weissman, director of Essential Action and co-author of Corporate Predators; and Shawn McCarthy, director of League of Fans.)

Council of the District of Columbia

Dear Council member:

The District baseball boondoggle is swirling out of control at an ever accelerating pace.

(Ralph Nader's Washington Post letter to the editor on DC Mayor Williams' plan to increase public spending on stadium.)

Ballpark Bait and Switch
Letter to the Editor - Washington Post: Page A20

In the Oct. 7 editorial "Don't Doff the Spending Cap," The Post rightly advised the D.C. Council to reject Mayor Anthony A. Williams's play for $75 million more from taxpayers for the stadium project.

The Honorable Adrian Fenty
Council of the District of Columbia

Dear Mr. Fenty:

With the primaries fast approaching, many voters are waiting for a plan as to what you would do to fix the baseball stadium mess should you become the Mayor of the District of Columbia.

George M. Steinbrenner III
Owner, New York Yankees

Dear Mr. Steinbrenner:

So you want to be the man who tears down "the House That Ruth Built." And for what? More profit.

Neither you, nor the city government you pressured, nor anyone else should ever do this to a place so rich in history and tradition as Yankee Stadium. Would the city ever tear down Carnegie Hall? Adding wasteful insult to senseless injury, you command hundreds of millions of dollars in public subsidies and primary neighborhood parkland to support a new impostor stadium.

Council of the District of Columbia

Dear Council members:

The residents and taxpayers of the District of Columbia have been told by members of the DC Council that the baseball stadium has a $611 million cap on spending from city resources for the new stadium project. But the Council is now being asked to violate its mandate to hold costs at $611 million.

Dave Zirin and Derek Tyner reveal in a column for The Nation that Major League Baseball is finally starting to hear the cries of worker's rights activists.

Back in 2004, in response to reports of poor labor practices in factories that produce "official" Major League Baseball licensed goods, Ralph Nader and League of Fans sent a letter to MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and Players Association Executive Director Donald Fehr asking that they adopt internationally recognized worker rights standards as a condition governing all of their product sourcing and licensing agreements. The response was lukewarm.

The Honorable Anthony A. Williams
Mayor, District of Columbia

Dear Mayor Williams:

Your Administration can no longer ignore the significant environmental hazards that exist at the construction site for the proposed new baseball stadium. On June 8, 2006 the Washington Post reported a major discovery of 53 tanks of oil under the soil at the stadium site that has caused $2.9 million extra to be spent on environmental cleanup. This troubling level of contamination is only the beginning and I renew my request, with increased urgency, for you to call for a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) at the stadium site.