NBA | Ex-ref Tim Donaghy released after 13 months in prison

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — Disgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy was a free man Wednesday after serving most of a 15-month sentence in a gambling scandal.

Pat Berdan, a consultant working with Donaghy, said he was released from Hernando County Jail in Florida. Donaghy had been jailed there since August after officials said he violated travel restrictions while living at a halfway house in the Tampa area.

A New York judge sentenced the ex-referee in July 2008 after Donaghy said he took thousands of dollars from a professional gambler in exchange for inside tips on games — including games he worked.

The 42-year-old pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting betting information through interstate commerce in the tips-for-payoffs scheme.

Donaghy served 13 months of a sentence that began in a federal prison in Pensacola. He was transferred to a halfway house in June and wound up in the Hernando County Jail in Brooksville after being accused of violating his probation by not showing up for work.

During his stay in prison, Donaghy wrote a tell-all book "Blowing The Whistle," that does not yet have a publisher.

Random House said last week it had decided not to go forward with publication of the book, which in excerpts posted online includes accusations of wagering between officials working games, favoritism toward star players and desires by the league to extend playoff series.

The NBA has said it will review the allegations that appeared on the Web site deadspin.com.

Executive Prison Consultants, an agency working with Donaghy, said the former referee plans to live in the Sarasota area and seek a job in sales or marketing.

Notes

• Nancy Lieberman is set to become the first female head coach of an NBA Development League team. A news conference is scheduled today to introduce Lieberman as the first coach of the team that will begin play during the 2010-11 season in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.

• Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love said he believes he is ahead of schedule in rehabilitating his surgically repaired left hand. Doctors told him to expect a recovery time of six to eight weeks. But Love said he is hoping to be cleared to return to practice Nov. 20.

• Leading rebounder Troy Murphy missed Indiana's game at New York with a bruised back.

• Phoenix guard Leandro Barbosa sat out the Suns' game against the Orlando Magic with an injured right wrist. Orlando guard Vince Carter was sidelined with a sprained left ankle.

• The Sacramento Kings signed swingman Ime Udoka to a contract.