The “red scare” of the Association

Date May 29, 2008

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.

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