Stephen Curry beat the Mavericks with a game-winning jumper last week, but the Golden State-Dallas game hit a controversial turn before that point.
On the possession prior, Jermaine O’Neal deflected Monta Ellis’ shot as the ball headed down toward the rim – an apparent goaltend. Except the officials ruled it a clean block.
Mavericks fans were, justifiably, upset.
The NBA even admitted the referees blew the call.
But that didn’t appease a fanbase cheering for a team teetering the playoff line. Especially not Mavericks public-address announcer Sean Heath, who tweeted:
Heath has a history of tweets criticizing the league and its referees:
The NBA issued a two-game suspension to Dallas Mavericks public-address announcer Sean Heath due to tweets criticizing officiating, multiple sources briefed on the situation told ESPNDallas.com.
The suspension will begin Saturday night, when the Mavs face the Phoenix Suns in the final home game of the regular season. Heath will complete the suspension either in the first home game of the playoffs or next season’s home opener, depending on whether the Mavs advance.
Games are refereed by fallible human beings. Mistakes happen, and it’s unreasonable to expect perfection (at least until we get Pablo Torre’s Robot Revolution). Errors aren’t necessarily part of some game-rigging conspiracy.
They’re just mistakes, and Heath is just whining.
That makes him no different than many fans.
What does make him different: He collects a paycheck by working for one of the NBA’s teams. The league has every right to punish employees who publicly criticize it. And when the complaints are so unfounded and rooted in obvious bias, Heath won’t get my sympathy.
