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By Pete, June 12, 2008 10:06 am

I used to love watching NBA basketball. While I must admit that basketball has not been the same after a few heartbreaks from my beloved Mavs, I came to a shocking realization today – I actually enjoy watching basketball in the late 90s (when the Mavs sucked) than in the last few years. While I have previously voiced my opinion on this controversy, I think this situation has come to a breaking point now. Credible or not, Tim Donaghy’s claims has received enough attention from the media to, in my opinion, seriously damage the league’s image. If Mr. Donaghy’s claims are absolutely baseless, as David Stern and Bob Delaney (whom I regard as one of the better refs in the league) asserts, then there shouldn’t have been any media coverage of this story. But after game 2 of this years finals, that was the perfect storm for this story to come out. And if the league wants to put away the slightest doubt in this PR nightmare, I have a solution.

Like Phil Jackson, I think it starts with an independent body that will be responsible for the refs. This body will have the authority to assign, review and, if necessary, discipline, the refs based on its own NBA-independent policies. This body would not have to provide complete transparency (in order to protect the refs), but enough transparency to give the PR image of integrity as opposed to complete blindness right now. A few PR events that shows how refs get ready for the game in the film room, how they review their performance, a few workshops, etc., etc. I don’t think that’s anything outrageous or impossible, just give the fans a few glimpse of how things work.

We’ll see what David Stern and Stu Jackson tries to do to put out this fire. Based on their decision history, they will probably just let this thing blow over and keep this cloud in the back of fan’s mind.

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By Pete, May 29, 2008 9:06 pm

The NBA has finally done it. In a span of 24 hours, it has left its official out to dry and then planning to institute a “flopping” fine next season. Compared to periods of American History, this is like the “red scare” era for the NBA.

There is no doubt that officials of any sport plays a part in the match. But basketball is arguably the sport where official have the most affect on the outcome of the game based on their call (or non-call). While suspicions of corrupt refs have risen since the whole Tim Donaghy scandal, I’m not entirely sure if the NBA is heading towards the right direction with these last two decision.

In an interesting move by calling out their refs to the public, the NBA not only alienated the refs who worked the game (particularly Joey Crawford – whom I’m sure Stu Jackson is a big fan of) but also started doing something they have never done before – provide transparency (albeit not too much) to the league’s officiating procedures/policies. In my previous (and somewhat cynically sarcastic) comment on the controversial call/non-call at the Pistons-Magic game, I had expressed a lot of displeasure over the way the refs had handled that particular call. As far as I know, the league was (and still currently is) mum over that call/non-call. As a fan, I am really curious to why the NBA decide to deviate from precedence over this particular situation.

If the timing of the decision to call out its refs deep into the playoffs didn’t make you uncomfortable as a fan, this should make you cringe: The NBA will have some sort of system next year to determine whether or not a person is “flopping”. While there are no official details from the Association as to how this system will work, one have to wonder who the guy watching the video replays would be and by what merit do you deem something a flop or not. If a player gets poked in the eye “lightly” and then throws his head back like he’s getting shot, is that a flop? Who determines that? Unless there are plans to analyze physics based on video replays, this flopping system could be one of the most subjective and controversial things out there. The NBA better be careful picking which direction they want to go with this or else this will be pretty similar to red scare of the 40s-50s where controversy and conspiracy clouded the times.