Fuck You: NBA Referees

May 28, 2008

Dear NBA Referees,

Fuck You! NBA Referees are the worst referees of any sport. From any given day, they can create as much as a 30 point swing based on foul calls alone. Isn’t it any wonder why Tim Donaghy bet on basketball? Referees are given an incredible amount of fouls.

The problem with NBA Referees lies in their consistency, as evidenced in last night’s Western Conference Finals in a close game between the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers, Brent Barry was fouled with seconds to go in what is usually a standard call. Regardless of the situation a foul is a foul…you can’t just change rules because of the timing.

This wasn’t a black and white situation, it was clearly a foul where there was contact on the play. It’s not one of the cheap fouls where a player just grazes another with his fingertips, Derek Fisher left his feet - a defensive no no and landed on Brent Barry as he was just going up for his shot. A textbook foul.

Even so the NBA rules are ridiculous where flopping is rampant and it’s a game that’s in the referees hands and not as much as the player’s hand you’d like to believe. It’s funny how all the flopping and complaining of small contact merits calls while the international game is a much better physical game.

There are some people who rationalize this:

From douchebag David DuPree of SI: His lead in to his column.. “it was a foul but it shouldn’t have been called”. Fuck you a foul is a foul regardless of situation. It’s foolish to think a player at the end of the game should be hacked and harassed because “they have to win on their own”. If you want less highlights sure…what if MJ couldn’t hit a shot because a guy bearhugged him? If it was my team.. I would be going off badly and having fans simply “accepting” that it’s okay for Refs to make bullshit calls is dumb.

We expect Refs to be perfect and it’s not like NBA refs have such a hard job…baseball is a faster sport with a smaller ball and they don’t even get a fucking replay. Hockey, they are put in harm’s way and with basketball..they have an excuse to blow the whistle 50 times in a game only to put them away at the end of the game. Great.

From Pounding The Rock: A San Antonio Spurs dedicated blog weighed in respectfully. While I’d like to see angry and passionate fans…it’s another way of rationalizing a no-call and I respect thought out posts/articles unlike the SI one.

The Spurs took the high road…they had to but as fans we don’t (I’m not a Spurs fan). The call was complete bullshit and at the worst time too. The NBA likes to have a gag rule on the players but it’s clear the referees need a ton of work.

I don’t care if there are more Lakers fans out there…the call was wrong and yes The Lakers are the better team but that is no way to win. Rationalizing the play as a “good no call” means you’re also a douchebag btw. Douchebags tolerate fuck-ups and if you see the point of this blog…we don’t like douchebags.

From fans who want to see basketball played by real men and with some refs who show consistency

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