Isaac
Years ago

Simmons on problems with NBA referees

Long piece here from Bill Simmons on the NBA and its referees. I haven't had time to do much more than skim most of it, but it looks interesting. Includes a great opening story about the guy who brought the 24 second shot clock to the game.

A grander idea: Since the league is already throwing tens of millions behind self-serving ventures such as the WNBA, the D-League and the Redeem Team, why wouldn't it spend a few extra bucks on D-League officiating salaries in an attempt to lure better talent? Better yet, why not splurge on a development academy for younger officials? Shouldn't Team Stern be actively recruiting former players as future refs? Just this past year, we learned USA Basketball is building a $1.2 billion facility in The Middle of Nowhere, Arizona, that makes absolutely no practical sense whatsover unless you remember that longtime Stern crony Jerry Colangelo brokered the deal. So, we can have a $1.2 billion headquarters for USA Basketball, but we can't have a tiny NBA Referee Academy somewhere?

(The following is absolutely true: Last week, the NBA sent out a memo for its Development League Referee Tryout Camp, which is scheduled for June 19-21 in Los Angeles. Participants officiate two games with prospective D-League players and need a minimum of two years experience at the high school level or higher. Not only do the participants have to pay their own way to get there, but the NBA charges them a $550 fee that covers "lodging for two nights at the camp headquarters, transportation to and from the games, and a camp officiating jersey." YOU HAVE TO PAY TO TRY OUT! The NBA, where amazingly dumb happens.)
Read the full article: Blowing the whistle on the NBA's flaws

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shin splints  
Years ago

If I click on the link will the result of today's game in anyway be displayed?

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Isaac  
Years ago

It's not currently, but they have some "top news links" sidebar which might change. I wouldn't risk it if you really wanted to avoid a spoiler.

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dcanwade  
Years ago

With four seconds to play in Game 4 and his team trailing by 2, LeBron put his head down, dribbled as fast as he could and prayed Michael Pietrus would either bump him or trip him. If you watch the clip, he's moving so fast that it would have been humanly impossible for him to make a shot. That wasn't his goal. He wanted a call. And he got one. Their feet got tangled, LeBron lurched forward, and the refs bailed him out.


Dwyane Wade won an NBA Finals for Miami that way. Three years later, LeBron nearly saved Cleveland's season that same way. It's a reprehensibly effective strategy that has nothing in common with anything we would ever see on a playground, an intramural game or a one-on-one battle in someone's backyard. I have been writing this column for 12 years dating back to my old Web site. Never have I received as many "I hate the referees" and "I hate watching these guys drive to the basket and get bailed out" and "Why can't they just let these guys play basketball and act like human beings?" e-mails as I did this spring.

TO TRUE

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dcanwade  
Years ago

Look, we still don't know everything that happened with Tim Donaghy, or whether his claims of playoff fixes in the past were valid. We still don't know why Donaghy called fellow referee Scott Foster hundreds of times before and after games. We still don't know why certain referees get assigned to certain games, why Bennett Salvatore always seems to be involved when a home team needs a win to change the momentum of a series, why Joey Crawford keeps getting assigned to Spurs games, why Danny Crawford keeps getting assigned to Mavericks games, why Bill Kennedy would get assigned to a big Celtics game only six weeks after an argument cost Doc Rivers money. We are told that referees don't matter, but that's the thing: They do.

Why indeed ??

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KingJames  
Years ago

So Lebron drew a foul, dcanwade what is wrong with that? A foul is a foul!!!

Then the wade comment is saying that Wade did it the same way by forcing the contact with his skill. So that is saying nothing wrong with the officials there just that a foul is a foul!

If a player gets a player in the air and they go straight up then the player jumps into them that shouldn't be a foul. However, in most cases as the example with Lebron if they get a player in the air and that player is going towards the offensive player and the offensive player jumps towards the player initiating the contact then that is a FOUL!!!! Unless you feel the player must now jump around the player to avoid the foul?

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rotateonthis  
Years ago

Lebron always gets bailed out when charging through players . Hope Orlando smash the Cavs in game 6 .

Love to see the peacock leave the arena without strut and witout chance of championship ring .

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Really  
Years ago

What if the player is running sideways and the offense initiates contact and then falls down like a soccer player.

Everyone watching the Lebron play could tell what was going to happen as soon as Lebron drove.

I would suggest it is why the USA team struggles at International comps, that would never get called internationally.

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olskoolgamer  
Years ago

I still can't believe there's not a minimum beep test or something that the refs have to pass. Some of those 60 year old guys surely can't keep up with ridiculous athletes.

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