I realize Kori wanted to end the proliferation of threads about the Crawford situation, but I think this might deserve its own discussion. The bolded part below is particularly interesting if for no other reason than Crawford's parting shot seems to be an effort to call Bavetta incompetent and decrying the notion that Bavetta is qualified to officiate the NBA Finals.
From Marc Stein's Blog tonight:
Kudos to my colleague Chris Sheridan. He called it. Sheridan wrote in the immediate aftermath of Sunday's scenes in Dallas that referee Joey Crawford would be suspended for the rest of the season. I certainly expected the league to suspend him and even make the punishment public this time, as opposed to the usual Cone of Silence lowered over any dose of ref discipline, but I honestly didn't anticipate such a punitive step. I get the sense that the Spurs and Duncan didn't expect it, either.
But now?
Informed sources say Crawford's NBA career is likely over.
The terms of his indefinite suspension call for Crawford, a 31-year veteran who has refereed 38 NBA Finals games, to meet with league officials at season's end to assess his future.
But Crawford made it clear to NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson on Tuesday that he would eject Duncan again if the cir stances were the same.
Crawford likewise informed superiors (including NBA commissioner David Stern) and fellow referees via e-mail Tuesday that "if my employer does not think that was acceptable, I have a problem" reffing in the future. Crawford has maintained from the start that Duncan deserved two technicals for what he deemed to be disrespecting the game by "laughing [at] and mocking the officials."
Crawford also blasted fellow referee Bavetta in the e-mail obtained by ESPN.com, hinting at divisions among referees between those who do and don't support Bavetta and writing that maybe Bavetta will wind up as the crew chief in Game 7 of the NBA "which is a travesty in itself you even being in the finals."
Stern, in an appearance on Tuesday's "Pardon The Interruption" on ESPN, acknowledged Crawford's discontent, telling co-hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon: "In fairness, I would say that [Crawford] doesn't think he did anything wrong and probably doesn't wish to work in the NBA any more."
Crawford's father (Shag Crawford) and brother (Jerry Crawford) were/are longtime baseball umpires. No referee in the NBA is more put off by being shown up than Joey Crawford. But that has always been the knock on an official that the NBA, in its press release to announce the suspension, felt compelled to remind us "is consistently rated as one of our top referees." More than a few times in his three decades with a whistle, obviously, Crawford's calls and game management have overshadowed the actual game.
The league does and will always have big problems with that approach, as it stressed to Crawford in a heated meeting after the 2003 playoffs. That's when Crawford ejected then-Mavs coach Don Nelson from a Western Conference finals game in San Antonio for refusing Crawford's order to return to the bench and standing defiantly at midcourt. Crawford was sternly warned that any repeat offenses would be dealt with severely.
Stern obviously wasn't kidding.
The Commish gave referees license to call more technical fouls this season, in the league's ongoing attempt to improve its image, but clearly doesn't equate anything that happened after Duncan's first technical Sunday with being tougher on the players. Hitting Duncan with a second T for laughter on the bench? Inviting him to fight, whether it was a literal or figurative invitation? On PTI, Stern said: "Joey knows our view on, shall I say, his loss of control. You just can't keep doing that."
Crawford, meanwhile, seemed to be saying goodbye in his message to bosses and colleagues, writing: "Please do not be sad for me [as] I have had a great run and a great career and NOBODY will ever take that from me."
He also likened his situation to longtime ref Jake O'Donnell, who was barred by the league from working the 1995 NBA Finals after refusing to shake hands with Houston's Clyde Drexler before a '95 playoff game and later ejecting Drexler. O'Donnell never refereed in the league again.
Joey Crawford >>> BavettaCrawford also blasted fellow referee Bavetta in the e-mail obtained by ESPN.com, hinting at divisions among referees between those who do and don't support Bavetta and writing that maybe Bavetta will wind up as the crew chief in Game 7 of the NBA "which is a travesty in itself you even being in the finals."
Bavetta already did ref game 7 of the Finals (2005), with Crawford and Eddie Rush.
Seriously...I'm not that happy about Crawford being suspended....right now.
He's a much better ref than Bavetta and Salvatore, who are probably the two worst officials in any sport.
Joey may be a but he's not a complete incompetent like Salvatore and Bavetta are. Ditto Javie...
Wasn't Joey the crew chief?
Wow... Jesus Joey... attacking Bavetta? You know the dude personally.. that is pretty rediculous...
Did David Stern take your stapler? Are you going to burn the building down?
Anyone else feel like its kind of funny that as soon as Joey gets officiated he decides he has to get his money's worth after he cant take the calls and gets ejected?
Yeah, I realize that. I think two things are interesting, though, about Joey's statement: (1) it would seem that Joey, who didn't have Bavetta's seniority, was likely the crew chief for Game 7 in 2005, which would suggest to me that the league believed then that Crawford was its best official -- at least for that season; and (2) the e-mail suggests, as Stein notes, that there is a division among NBA officials about whether Bavetta is any good at what he does.
I think the latter is worth noting, only because it suggests that after years of hearing that fans don't now what they're talking about when it comes to officiating, Crawford is perhaps acknowledging that fans know enough to realize that Bavetta might do things other than just calling the game and that there's been an official veil of protection that keeps officials from acknowledging the problematic nature of some of Bavetta's antics.
I'll add, as a side note, that if there is anything to the various conspiracy theories surrounding the NBA -- none of which I buy, for the record -- it would seem that the most likely suspect to spill the beans now has an axe to grind and isn't concerned any longer about his status with the league.
Like I said in my previous posts, if it wasn't for Joey Crawford, Stern would get his "Lakers vs. Lakers" every year. Especially if Bavetta, Rush, or Salvatore is the lead official in the big games during the playoffs.
I don't think its feasible to think that Crawford is singularly responsible for protecting against pushing big market teams through -- he could only work one game of any particular series (other than maybe the NBA Finals) and the other guys could combine to officiate as many as 3 games in a series. I'd agree that Joey generally came off as more on the up-and-up than Bavetta (a notorious game manipulator), Rush (famous for asking the official scorer during a timeout how many fouls Shaq had), and Salvatore (the king of the FT shooting contest). But I also think that there are a number of other officials in the league who don't feel an obligation to favor teams or to manipulate games -- top-level officials like Bob Delaney, Dan Crawford, and Mike Callahan.
Like I say, though, I think if there is any truth to the conspiracy talk, as slayer intimates, the proof of that is most likely to come from a guy like Joey Crawford.
Actually...Bavetta's not exactly notorious for low FT games himself...he may be a tad better about FT's, but he blows a of a lot more calls.
It's pretty interesting to read. I felt a little sorry that he appears on the way out for good until I read him saying if he was in the same situation again he'd throw TD out again. That's as stubborn as anything else.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that Joey worked as the crew chief in many critical playoff games that ultimately decided the championship.
And as much as I like Danny Crawford, I wonder what Joey would have done in that 0.4 game. He has the type of personality that might have disallowed that shot. I wonder what Joey thought about the 0.4.
Bennet Salvatore is the worst ref in the league. What's with all the bull regarding Bavetta ? I think he's a good ref. I actually thought Crawford was good too (Except for the nonsense). He deserved what he got and its all a shame.
WTF? Unbanned?
so, who is the best ref in the game?
This just further proves that he has no class whatsoever and does not deserve to be an NBA official anymore. So Tim deserves to be tossed for laughing at you but you were in the right by challenging him to fight. This guy is messed up big time. He has an out of control EGO and Stern clearly let him know that by essentially canning his BUTT. Virtually nobody came down on Crawford's side on this issue not the Gen public and not the league. He wants to dig in his heels and refuse to take any blame that is fine, let us know how things are on the unemployment line.
I've never thought that Bavetta blows calls. I think Bavetta is constantly looking for opportunities to keep games close and that he chooses what to see and what not to see based on the game situation.
The most vivid example of my mind came last season in a game between the Spurs and Clippers in SA. The Clippers scored with less than 20 seconds left to take a 2 point lead and the Spurs called timeout. During the timeout, I turned to the guy sitting behind me and said that I figured Bavetta would find some way to put Duncan on the line with enough time left that the Clippers would have one last possession to try to win the game if Duncan made both FT. Sure enough, after the timeout, Bavetta called a foul on Brand on a play where he was defending Duncan near half-court. It was a sketchy call all the way, but with Bavetta in the building it was perfectly predictable. He got a game that was either going to end with some drama in the last 30 seconds or go to overtime.
I think sometimes Bavetta believes that his obligation is to ensure that possibility as often as he can, even if it means that he's inconsistent over the course of a game.
As most know, it's not a coincidence that Bavetta seems to end up working game 3's in series where a heavy favorite has decisively won Games 1 and 2 at home -- in the Spurs' case, games like Game 3 of the 1999 Finals; Game 3 of the 2001 First Round series against Minnesota; Game 3 of the 2005 First Round series against Denver (a game with some ridiculous number of called fouls).
With Joey suspended, Danny Crawford is the best, hands down.
Interesting. Nice find.
Bavetta has been a bad ref for a while now. He lives for the animated offensive foul call. I truly believe that's one of the main reason why he still refs.
Salvatore, Nies, Javie and Bavetta are the bottom of the barrel. Crawford is a much better ref than all four of those guys.
The good news is I've been impressed by the new breed of official. The younger generation is much more business like and stay in the background. I think what happened was that at one point in time, the NBA needed "bad guys" to help ratings and fan interest ... so they looked for refs with personality. Nowadays, the NBA just wants quality refs who blend into the background.
Two questions for FromWayDowntown:
1) If you could send three refs off of the NBA island for good, who would they be?
2) Are you as impressed as I am with the young crop of refs?
Thanks.
Dan Crawford.
Hands down. I like Javie also, hes fair,
Bavetta keeps the game close kinda like a dad making sure his two kids are sharing a new toy. Maybe a bad analogy but he loves drama.
I actually think that someone that nobody knows -- Mike Callahan -- might actually be the best official in the game. He seems to be pretty much impervious to ing by players and coaches; he doesn't seem to care about the reaction he might get from a crowd for an unpopular call; and, I think most importantly of all, he's usually right. He doesn't have enough seniority yet to get the assignment for something like a Finals Game 7, but he's an extremely good official, I think.
I'd agree, though, that Danny Crawford is usually excellent, too.
The first question is a tough one. I'd pretty much have to confine myself to officials who get to call big games and are either incompetent or manipulators. Without thinking real hard about it, I think I'd send away Bernie Fryer, Bavetta, and Bennett Salvatore.Two questions for FromWayDowntown:
1) If you could send three refs off of the NBA island for good, who would they be?
2) Are you as impressed as I am with the young crop of refs?
Thanks.
I do agree with you on the second question. I think the class of officials that is just now getting into 2nd round games is a pretty solid group of assertive officials who tend to call good games (guys like Tony Brothers, Monty McCutchen, Scott Foster, Sean Corbin (the horrendous call against Oberto on Sunday notwithstanding), Tim Donaghy).
Theres another one.
Grey short hair.
Semi short guy.
I like Callahan but is he a crew chief? Guys like him are usually the best because they aren't flamboyant. You would only remember him if he made some bad calls. I also think Bob Delaney is a good ref. He has been around for a while now but the only thing I can remember about him is that he's the Donnie Brasco dude.
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