Knicks players fixed games in the 80’s for drug dealers

photo via NBAE

Cocaine was a problem across the three major sports leagues in the 1980’s. A new book is claiming that three former Knicks players addiction to the drug, allowed them to be caught up in fixing games and point shaving for their drug dealer, who just happened to be one of the largest dealers on the east coast.

Brian Tuohy’s book, “Larceny Games: Sports Gambling, Game Fixing and the FBI,” cites FBI documents that detail a period in 1982 where the dealer upped his usual $300 bet to $10,000 on teams playing Against the Knicks.

the coke dealer had won six of his seven five-figure bets against the Knicks — while continuing to make his normal $300 wagers on other NBA games.

“Over . . . the last two months, all three [players] have given . . . tips on when to bet the Knicks to lose. This has occurred seven times and six of the tips were good,” according to FBI files citing two unnamed “sources.”

The FBI thought the players were just giving the dealer inside info initially but as he continued to win big, the Feds expanded their investigation.

The feds’ probe stretched into 1986, and widened to the coke dealer conspiring with “various professional basketball teams to shave points.”

But without any physical evidence — and no confessions — the Knicks case crumpled. An FBI spokeswoman said the case was closed, without any arrests, in 1986.