Former NBA Referee Tim Donaghy Says Shohei Ohtani Was Likely Involved In Ippei Mizuhara's Gambling Habits

Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy made an appearance on "Hot Mic with Hutton And Withrow" to talk about the Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal. 

In March and April, news broke that Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, had stolen roughly $16 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar to illegally place sports bets. After a lengthy investigation, it was determined that Ohtani was not involved in any way in the gambling and that Mizuhara was to blame for the whole thing.

But Donaghy, who himself was involved in a massive gambling scandal in the NBA, thinks that Ohtani was likely involved in the betting, and that the MLB did all they could to cover up his involvement in it.

"You look at that guy and what he’s done for baseball globally, and the fans that he’s attracted around the world. The last thing they want is for him to be somebody that was involved in betting on his own games and maybe doing things that he wasn’t supposed to do," Donaghy said. 

"I think that they were very smart to get that under the rug as quickly as possible and say that he had nothing to do with it and basically have this other guy take the fall for everything."

Los Angeles, CA - February 03:  Shohei Ohtani, right, of the Los Angeles Dodgers speaks to the media with the help of his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara during DodgerFest a celebration of the upcoming season with live entertainment, behind-the-scenes experiences, food, drinks and meeting the newest Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 3, 2024. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)

Part of the investigation revealed that Mizuhara did not bet on any baseball games. But Donaghy also believes that part of the story is highly unlikely.

"You look at the amount of bets that he was placing, obviously he had some type of addiction, so it's not like he could just turn it off when it comes time (for) baseball season," Donaghy said. 

"There’s no doubt in my mind that he not only bet on  baseball, he bet on Ohtani’s games, and I think Ohtani was right there with him knowing what he was doing."

MLB and Ohtani's agent, Nez Balelo, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment regarding Donaghy's statement.