Take five steps, Commish, to defuse Tim's not-so-tiny threat

It's doubtful that in my lifetime there will ever be a better commissioner than David Stern.

He's a robust leader, if not occasionally a little too self-assured. Stern is smart, forward thinking and accountable. He's one of the few commissioners who will return phone calls and not hide behind a battery of PR people.

It's time to get former prosecutor -- and avid sports fan -- Rudy Giuliani involved. (Getty Images)

Stern has built a tall and virile legacy that until recently was hardly blemished.

Now Tim Donaghy stands over that legacy with a lit match in one hand, a gas can in the other and a stack of court filings between his teeth. Donaghy seems ready to set ablaze everything Stern has accomplished.

In many ways Donaghy represents the greatest threat the NBA has ever seen, more than drugs ever were. This is a far bigger danger to basketball than Spygate ever was to football.

This might be totally unfair, but the veracity of Donaghy's statements is almost irrelevant. Whether he's the NBA's version of Jose Canseco or a rogue operator and convicted felon as the league deftly and repeatedly calls him, Donaghy's accusations, launched like missiles, have already done their collateral damage.

Conducting a forensics examination on Donaghy's truthfulness is a waste of time because so many fans and media either believe or want to believe Donaghy in the first place.

Whether Stern likes it or not, Donaghy has elbowed his way into the conversation and will be there for quite some time.

So what does Stern have to do?

He must pull a Bud Selig.

There has to be a public and thorough vetting of the officials the way Selig opened up baseball's steroid closet, and let the skeletons fall all over the room.

Stern has to put everything on the table, quickly, for the world to see. That's what Selig did and it worked brilliantly.

Here's five ways for the NBA to save itself from not just the scandal now but protect itself from future Donaghys.