Stern Claims Suspending Referee Joey Crawford Justified

NBA Suspends Crawford Indefinitely Following Actions In Spurs-Mavs Game

The NBA has suspended referee Joey Crawford indefinitely for improper action towards Spurs F Tim Duncan during Spurs-Mavericks Sunday. While ejecting Duncan, Crawford allegedly said, “Do you want to fight?” NBA Commissioner David Stern appeared on ESPN’s “PTI” yesterday and said, “It was an inappropriate call (ejecting Duncan), and there was a prior history, and he had been specifically asked by me to change his conduct in such circumstances.” Stern said the incident did not warrant an ejection under the NBA’s crackdown on players complaining. He added Crawford “doesn’t think he did anything wrong and probably doesn’t wish to work in the NBA anymore.” When asked if the same punishment would have been handed down if the incident involved an unheralded player instead of a star like Duncan, Stern answered, “Yes” (“PTI,” ESPN, 4/17).

WORRIED ABOUT ANY RAMIFICATIONS: In San Antonio, Mike Monroe writes several NBA execs “were shocked” by the suspension, but none were “willing to risk Stern’s wrath by speaking on the record.” One of the execs “could not believe Stern would make the officials the center of attention just as the playoffs were about to begin and wondered what form of protest the referees might choose to show Crawford they support him” (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 4/18). Also in San Antonio, Johnny Ludden reports two Spurs execs “privately said they were ‘stunned’ by the severity of Crawford’s suspension and wondered whether the team would experience any repercussions from other referees” (EXPRESS-NEWS, 4/18).

Referee Does Not Have Any Remorse For Ejection Of Duncan

CRAWFORD NOT BACKING DOWN: Crawford talked to NBA Senior VP/Basketball Operations Stu Jackson yesterday and subsequently sent an e-mail to league officials summarizing the call. Crawford wrote, “I told [Jackson] I would throw Duncan out again if he did what he did. So if my employer does not think that was acceptable, then I have a problem.” National Basketball Referees Association Exec Dir Lamell McMorris declined comment (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 4/17). NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter believes that the incident “underlines a problem with the new technical foul rules ... and how those rules have been implemented.” Referees early in the season “were quick to call technicals to curtail excessive complaining.” Hunter said, “Part of the problem lies with the new rules regarding technical fouls and the lack of consistency in applying those rules” (USA TODAY, 4/18).

REAX: In Chicago, Sam Smith writes the punishment “sends a chilling message to officials that appears to contradict [Stern’s] edict from last year’s playoffs that players need to tone down petty complaining about fouls.” The NBA “apparently endorses the star system it so often denies is in place. If it were Robert Horry, would the league have reacted the same. ... You don’t mess with Stern’s favorites” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/18). ESPN’s Ric Bucher said, “The feeling is that when any of these things go down, it’s always, by and large, the referee’s fault, and they’re the ones that pay the price. And that really digs at their credibility and their authority to do the job” (ESPNews, 4/17). But in DC, Michael Wilbon writes the league’s “behavior campaign ... wouldn’t have a shred of credibility if Stern had just given Crawford a warning.” Crawford was “already working under a zero-tolerance warning after a technical-foul assessing spree in a playoff game four years ago” (WASHINGTON POST, 4/18). Washington Post columnist Mike Wise said, “This is why David Stern is the most forward-thinking commissioner in sports. He takes the last bastion of on-court authority –- the officials -– and says, ‘It’s not working. It’s broken. I’ve got to fix it’” (“Jim Rome Is Burning,” ESPN, 4/17).