NBA Commissioner Adam Silver last night discussed the referees' opposition of the league publishing its Last Two-Minute Reports, saying fans "expect accountability." Silver, appearing on ABC's halftime coverage of Warriors-Cavaliers Game 3, said, "In this case, when you look at the Last Two-Minute Reports, what they demonstrate is the refs get it right roughly 90% of the time. I think this notion that, for example, if I were here and you were to say to me, ‘What does the league office think about a particular call?’ and my response was, ‘We won’t talk about that,’ it’s just not realistic in this day and age." Silver said he understands the National Basketball Referees Association's "point of view, and we’ll discuss it with them in the summer." But he stressed, "I just can’t imagine in this day and age that in response to fans wondering what the league’s view is of a call that we wouldn’t respond." He added, "We’ve absolutely seen improvement. It is something that we test. We have all kinds of ways of testing fan data, doing surveys, and we know in terms of perception of accountability of this league, but most importantly, at the end of the day, it’s improving officiating. ... We want to get it right" ("Warriors-Cavaliers," ABC, 6/8). Silver said of the referees, “We have meetings with them just like we would with any other group of employees, whether or not they are unionized, and we discuss these things. They understand that we are not going to change anything during the course of a playoffs. In the offseason, we’ll look at things, we’ll talk to them about the standards for the L2Ms, and also present to them some of the data on why we think it is working in terms of fans’ perception of the game, perception of the integrity of the game" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 6/9).
MORE SCRUTINY FOR THE SCRUTINIZED? ESPN's Tracy McGrady noted he is in favor of doing away with the report, saying, "It doesn’t have any effect on the outcome of the game, and it’s having some hatred towards the referees from the fans. You don’t want that. It’s making these guys look bad, really throwing them under the bus." ESPN's Ramona Shelburne said, "If you have a thought in your head, and you’re making a tight call, that this may end up in the two-minute report, it’s making your job harder. You’re already under that level of scrutiny. It’s another level" ("The Jump," ESPN, 6/8). L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke said the report does not "serve any purpose,” and what it does is "inflame the fans for the next game.” But ESPN's Israel Gutierrez said, "If you didn't have this, you’d go online, find the calls that you thought were blown and still blame that referee." ESPN's Sarah Spain said, "It’s important to have some sort of accountability, particularly after the Tim Donaghy stuff" ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 6/8). ESPN's Jemele Hill: "They had a scandal involving a referee related to gambling in Tim Donaghy, so they feel probably more need to be transparent" ("His & Hers," ESPN2, 6/8). ESPN's Tony Kornheiser: "You can’t put transparency back in the bottle. ... You cannot say to your fans, ‘We’re going to stop telling you the truth and we’re going to go back to a time where we didn’t say anything at all'" ("PTI," ESPN, 6/8). ESPN's Rachel Nichols: "It is to make fans who watch the game feel like they can trust what they see on the court. ... We forget that they really get it right most of the time. But when they get it wrong, it is okay to say they got it wrong and move on" ("The Jump," ESPN, 6/8).
BEING TOO THIN-SKINNED? In DC, Deron Snyder writes the NBRA is "being thin-skinned" in calling for an end to the reports, but has "made several valid points." The league "insists that the reports are a good thing, but no one can explain how." Regardless of the reports’ rulings, the NBRA "has some legitimate questions." Snyder: "Who makes the evaluations and what are the evaluators’ qualifications? Who has the power to edit and change the evaluations? Are the guidelines and instructions for game officials also followed by evaluators?" Snyder: "The referees want to do away with the reports altogether and I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, but if the league insists on continuing the policy, the refs recommend even more transparency. I agree with that, too" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 6/9).
