It feels like there’s a massive trade or free agent signing every day in the NBA, but back in 2007, the biggest story in the sport was the NBA betting scandal, which is documented in a new film called “Inside Game.”
“Inside Game” is about the story of Tim Donaghy, a former NBA referee who gambled on professional basketball games that he officiated on, leveraging his relationship with coaches, players and front offices and feeding coded tips to friends and bookies as part of a money-making scheme, only to eventually attract the attention of the FBI and NBA commissioner David Stern in the scandal.
The film is set in Philadelphia and follows Donaghy and Tommy Martino, two childhood friends who work with bookie Baba Battista in their attempt to make millions before they’re eventually brought down on federal charges within the world of organized crime.
“My job puts me on the inside. I know things that regular guys don’t,” Donaghy says in the new trailer for the film. “I pay your wins, and I eat your losses. It’s a license to print money. All we’re waiting on is for you to say yes,” Battista reassures him.
Scott Wolf, Eric Mabius,Will Sasso, Lindsey Morgan and “Caddyshack’s” Michael O’Keefe star in the drama directed by Randall Batinkoff. Andy Callahan wrote the screenplay, and Michael Pierce, Paul Martino, Batinkoff and Robert Capelli are producing.
“‘Inside Game’ is an inside look at the lives affected by people who think they are above the law. Unethical plans almost always seem easy, and they almost always have an inescapable crack because we are all human,” the film’s director and producer Batinkoff said in a statement.
The production companies Raw Milk and iDreamMachine are releasing the film on over 100 screens in 20 of the top NBA markets on Nov. 1. Watch the first trailer for the film above.