Nobody has been as been as critical -- or paid as steep a price for that criticism -- for criticizing NBA referees as Mark Cuban. Well, Tim Donaghy is right there, but we stopped listening to anything he had to say a while ago.
Yesterday the NBA made what can be seen as an empty gesture in admitting that the referees blew the call at the end of the Thunder/Jazz game Tuesday -- the move will not change the outcome. But Cuban told the Dallas Morning News that admitting the call was a mistake was a good step.
“Transparency is a great disinfectant,” he said. “The more transparent the league is, the less people can insert their own opinions. The facts speak for themselves, and that’s always good for the league.”
Of course, it could end up costing a home court advantage for the Mavericks or somebody else.
“Yeah, but that’s a reflection of another problem,” Cuban said. “Missed calls are missed calls. The question is how do you avoid certain calls being missed. That’s not an issue to address right now. It’s not like everybody didn’t realize it was a foul.”
The question of how to make sure there are fewer missed calls is a complex one involving training, screening maybe even an age limit. You know Cuban is not going to let that go, but at least the league is starting to take the first step.