It was Howard who hours before the NBA All-Star Game here in February opened a news conference with David Stern by inquiring of the commissioner his concerns about gambling as it relates to Las Vegas housing a team, whether Stern was more worried about fans betting on games or the potential of a points-shaving scandal.

Stern -- soaked in smugness like that piece of bread in the soup bowl -- admonished Howard for broaching the subject, ending his response with this: "I'm not worried about games being fixed and I'm surprised you asked the question."

That's the problem now with Stern and anyone else who appears stunned by an FBI investigation into former referee Tim Donaghy allegedly placing bets on games and providing tips to mob informants who also wagered on them.

It's OK to believe the NBA didn't know what was going on. It's not OK for it to act the least bit astonished about it -- not with what has transpired in other parts of the world.

Stern during a 70-minute news conference Tuesday (where there was more damage control from the commissioner than any recent diplomatic discussions regarding the Middle East) spoke of a soccer scandal in Germany his league closely followed.

In it, a referee admitted to fixing professional matches for the Croatian mafia. This, in one of the most regulated societies on the planet. If it could happen there, it could happen anywhere.

We just never like to admit it.

American sports leagues have this habit of not believing the same disgraces that rock those from other nations could ever touch our games, a ridiculous level of self-importance in this era of globalization.

It's this type of arrogance that perhaps doesn't force leagues such as the NBA or NFL or Major League Baseball to be more proactive in doing everything possible to discover potential disasters such as the Donaghy case before they surface. Maybe it wasn't doable this time.

Again, it's realistic to think the NBA wasn't aware of Donaghy's alleged crimes before being contacted by the FBI on June 20. Ever heard of Aldrich Ames? People from all walks of life in all sorts of professions have hidden serious criminal actions from employees for years.

But while hindsight in the Donaghy case will become rampant now as others question what more the NBA could have done, it's critical Stern attempts to protect his league from this reaching the next level of catastrophe, which is any hint others might be involved. It's important he doesn't follow baseball's lead in the steroids mess and look the other way in hopes the cheating doesn't stretch beyond the original scope.

The game of football made the NFL. But it was in large part how media friendly NBA executives became in the 1970s and early 1980s (when games were showed on a tape-delayed basis because the nation didn't care to watch a league defined by a drug scandal) that allowed pro basketball to flourish around the time Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and later Michael Jordan arrived.

On Tuesday, Stern used that type of frankness with a room full of cameras and notebooks to get his central point across while throwing Donaghy under the approaching Greyhound, which is he believes this to be an isolated incident by one rogue official.

He better hope it is. He better hope any plea agreement by Donaghy doesn't include him flipping on other officials. He better hope this or any other scandal involving his league never comes close to the game-fixing disgrace in Italy last year involving the powerful soccer club Juventus, in which four major clubs and 41 people (including nine referees) were investigated.

Not possible in the NBA?

A ridiculous idea?

Five months ago, shortly before the All-Star Game tipped off here, Stern was asked a legitimate question in regards to potential game-fixing in his league that he scoffed at like a teenager might a peer's dated fashion sense.

Five months later, that query has proved quite prophetic.

"I thought how he handled it was a joke," Howard says now. "I was furious. Not only did he cut me off, they took the microphone from me and I couldn't ask a follow-up. He then said he'd be happy to talk about it afterward but left. We have since e-mailed his office countless times for a response. We have never heard back from them."

Hopefully, it isn't because Stern is surprised at what has since happened. Hopefully, he didn't take that call from the FBI on June 20 and collapse from disbelief.

If so, he's not as smart as we thought.

Ed Graney's column is published Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. He can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.