espn has invested billions in the NBA. if the NBA were to suffer a huge setback from this scandal, ESPN/ABC would lose a shitload of money.

ESPN can't *ignore* the story because it's too big, but they aren't going to be the ones digging deep into it, either. they are gonna be the NBA's propaganda arm and try to isolate donaghy rather than examine how deep the rabbit hole goes (which is what responsible journalists will do).