Disgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy said he believes the Dallas Mavericks were screwed out of an NBA championship during their 2006 matchup with the Miami Heat. 

“Basically, Dallas was up in the series,” Donaghy said on the Forgotten Maverick Podcast. “With that being said, the way it was back then, was that the NBA would come in in order to extend a series, to go over plays that they felt should have went in Miami’s favor that didn’t and that went in Dallas’s favor that shouldn’t have and they started to program and training the referees to look for certain things.”

Donaghy went on to accuse the NBA of manipulating the series to extend it, which in turn led to Miami's comeback.

"I think basically Dallas basically got screwed out of a championship in that situation because the NBA started to manipulate the series to make sure it was extended and Dallas could never recover from it,” Donaghy said.

Donaghy, 50, officiated in the NBA from 1994-2007. He pleaded guilty in 2007 to federal fraud charges after altering games to affect the points spreads to help himself and others who bet on the games. The guilty plea led to a 15-month prison sentence, which he completed in 2009.

Since his release from prison, Donaghy has been outspoken about what he claims is widespread corruption within the NBA. In the 2006 Finals, Donaghy cited Ed Rush's dislike of Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

“Let’s not forget at that time, Ed Rush was the supervisor of officials,” Donaghy said. “And he hated Mark Cuban’s guts. He absolutely hated Mark Cuban.

“He’s programming and training these referees to look for certain things that definitely put Miami at an advantage. Ed Rush used to tell us that Mark Cuban was someone that created a lot of extra work for us, constantly calling the league office and that really just got everyone to start to dislike Cuban."

Cuban once famously said he would not hire Ed Rush to manage a Dairy Queen, which Cuban later did for a day following public outcry about the comment.