If there is one thing the NBA loves, it’s when the officials become the story.
Fans are talking about it. Players have been fitted with the shock-collars of heavy fines, which were applied liberally in the first rounds so now guys hold their tongues. The coaches try to be subtle. Doc Rivers was ironically complaining about another team holding.
But David Stern doesn’t see what all the fuss is about. That’s what he said to Dennis and Callahan on WEEI in Boston.
I was sitting at the game on Sunday, being very thankful that I wasn’t an official because the pace and the speed and the intensity and the passion with which our guys play is very, very difficult to officiate. And once you make a decision that a foul has occurred in front of you and you are not going to call it, then you are endangering our players. That’s all. And it’s a hard job that these guys have. These games are particularly intense. The teams have enough time to figure out what they’re going to do to the other. And they test the officials. They test them. They push and push and push. And if the officials don’t step up, then you’re going to have chaos and a game decided on (something) other than its merits. I recognized the risk that you are going to have a lot fouls called as well. But we’ve got very large bodies in small places, and it’s our job, our duty to protect these players.”
I think that as long as there are human beings officiating games, you’re going to have a certain amount of missed every game that can only be made by going back and using instant replay. And balancing the desire to get it perfect with the need to have a game that is played in less than four hours is what keeps me up at night.
Well, that should just about take care of everything, right? Sure.