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The NBA Comes Down Hard on Joey Crawford, or How the Incident Will Help the Spurs Win Another NBA Title

I didn’t think Joey Crawford would get it this bad, but that’s what happens when you mess with Tim Duncan. For ejecting Duncan on Sunday afternoon, Crawford is basically being suspended until the start of next season! From the press release from the NBA this afternoon:

NBA referee Joey Crawford has been indefinitely suspended for improper conduct toward Tim Duncan during the San Antonio Spurs at Dallas Mavericks game on April 15, it was announced today by NBA Commissioner David Stern. The conduct included Crawford’s assessment of a second technical foul and ejection of Duncan following laughter by the player while he was seated on the bench, and inappropriate comments made to Duncan during the game.

Crawford’s suspension will cover at least the remainder of the 2006-07 season, including the NBA Playoffs and Finals.

“Joey Crawford’s handling of this situation failed to meet the standards of professionalism and game management we expect of NBA referees,” said Stern. “Especially in light of similar prior acts by this official, a significant suspension is warranted. Although Joey is consistently rated as one of our top referees, he must be held accountable for his actions on the floor, and we will have further discussions with him following the season to be sure he understands his responsibilities.”

What does this mean? A couple of things:

1. The Spurs had something to play for on Sunday. Ejecting Duncan probably cost them the game and a shot at catching the Suns for 2nd overall in the conference.
2. The NBA, by suspending Crawford, officially admitted to the screw up, and are shouldering the blame for Crawford.
3. League officiating is now in crisis mode immediately before the playoffs - that’s very bad news for everyone. The microscope on the officials during the playoffs will now be further magnified due to this incident.

Put all of that together. The result? The Spurs are going to get the greatest make-up call in NBA history straight from David Stern. I think during and throughout the playoffs, the word is going to come from the top: Duncan gets the call.  Be smart, but if in doubt, Tim Duncan/San Antonio gets the call in their favor.

Duncan gets plenty of calls as it is, and the Spurs are a very good basketball team - in fact, they’re the best in the NBA since the All-Star break. I don’t think they need this sort of payback or make-up from the officials, but when they play the Suns in the 2nd round of the playoffs and the Suns have home-court advantage, won’t they feel at least a little slighted? I think so, and that’s why I think it may be a very, very interesting series to pay attention to the officiating. The Suns may get home court in that series, but the Spurs will have the referees on their side.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 17th, 2007 at 3:26 pm and is filed under General NBA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.