NBA Officiating, David Stern, and Where The Bodies Are Buried

This topic deserves far more time and words than I'll be setting down here, but after reading a few articles today in the midst of an NBA Playoffs that's been wearing its best March Madness disguise, I think there's something really interesting to be said about the NBA, its officiating, and David Stern's tyrannical gag-rule when it comes to comments about the refs.

First, Blazers coach Nate McMillan was fined $35,000 by the league for "complaining" about the officiating in his team's first game against the Mavs. It seems McMillan committed the unpardonable sin of pointing out the 19-2 free throw disparity between the Mavs and Blazers in the 4th quarter. Dirk German alone attempted as many free throws during the game as the entire Blazers team.

Now, far be it for me -- much less an NBA head coach -- to allege intentional, deliberate favoritism by an NBA ref. But quite frankly, it seems absurd that coaches are so regularly fined for saying anything -- and I mean quite literally ANYTHING -- that might be construed as negative about the refereeing in a game. I mean, it's not as if an NBA ref ever used "his knowledge of league directives, the personalities of fellow refs, the philosophies of N.B.A. coaches and the physical condition of players to place bets on league games, including some he officiated." Oh, wait.

Then, to make this topic (and this series) spicier, comes the news that Danny Crawford is scheduled to be the lead official in game 2. Coincidentally -- and I'm sure this is just coincidence -- the Mavs happen to be an astonishing 2-16 in playoff games refereed by Crawford; they are 48-41 in every other playoff game. The Mavs have lost 6 straight games and 16 of the last 17 officiated by Crawford. Huh. What a coincidence. Of course, Mark Cuban had better not plan on bringing this statistical anomaly to the league's attention. After all, the boy owner has already been fined an outlandish $1.7 million for opening his trap in ways that hurt the league's feelings.

All of which brings us to David Stern. The commish has presided over a golden period for the sport, at least as far public interest and ratings are concerned (there are those allegations of impending $400 million losses, after all). What goes unmentioned, and more or less unexamined, is the iron grip he has over the sport. I'm certainly not one to spread conspiracy theories, but Stern's use of fines, in particular, seems to me to be an incredible exercise of power, or more specifically, of control. Stern wants everyone -- players, coaches, owners, etc. -- to toe the party line, and any hint of dissent is crushed immediately and expensively. I'm no investigative reporter, and, as I've said, I'm not one to spread conspiracy theories, but the NBA's perspective on its officials and the very real possibility that they make mistakes seems to me to point towards something more subtle and, I daresay, malicious.

But don't take my word for it. Stern said it best when he angrily told a room full of NBA All-Stars that "he knows where 'the bodies are buried' in the NBA, witnesses recounted, because he had buried some of them himself."

Food for thought during Game 2 tonight.

p.s. As always, your comments and responses are welcome.