http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/sports/basketball/15referee.html?_r=2&ref=basketball Interesting. Forte is probably just getting old and decides to take his pension. The other 3 guys are 53, 49, and 44. Not sure why they are leaving. Maybe one or more of them are getting forced out (particularly the guy who didn't do any playoff games despite years in the NBA). They may also have achieved some pension status and decides to pursue other things (or just retire early and hang out on the beach). And yes, Dick Bavetta is coming back despite (the report says) rumors of the league trying to push him out.
Seriously, Bavetta is horrible....how can they let him stay? That D-league ref, the really tall one was pretty good in the Toros games I saw him, though he did not call carrying the ball no matter how many times I asked him too...lol. DD
we need a fresh look, i think the current roster of refs is like a bunch of congressmen and senators. full of politics.
Bavetta is a crook! He should definitely quit and go enjoy all that money he made gambling on and damn near ruining the game.
Why hasn't Mother Nature taken action with Dick Bavetta? Is it because he's Father Time's older brother?
yes there were more foul calls, but there was something refreshing about seeing lopsided calls against the non-supertar players.
Well they do run around for a living. As for Bavetta, the only reason I can think of that the league hasn't been successful in forcing him out is that he knows too much for them to risk upsetting him.
Really? Dick Bavetta is pretty universally known as a good guy and one of the better, fairer refs in the league. What's with the vitriol?
Not sure where you got that info from. Dick Bavetta is widely considered to be the league's "go to" ref when they want something to happen, particularly in the playoffs. He is surely among the worst if not the worst.
amen to this.. . Bavetta is horrible! Not sure what BONIERO was talking about. Joey Crawford is equally bad. That whole Duncan sitting on the bench laughing incident was one of the crazier things I've seen a ref do. All the female refs are super bad too.. I think Barkley was right
I read an article (granted a while back) where players were asked who their favorite refs were, at least a handful of them (including Barkley) answered Bavetta. I've never heard him singled out as someone that has personal beefs with players. I personally have a much stronger reaction to when I find out Javey or Crawford are calling the game. All that "want something to happen" is tinfoil hat conspiracy nonsense. Did we get a Lebron/ Kobe showdown? Hell, why have the Spurs made it to the finals so many times if there is a nefarious plot to only let big market teams and big markets stars on the big stage?
I can explain the Spurs - San Antonio is a great captive market and they were the original championship caliber floppers.. lethal combination.
Come to think about it the replacement referees last season maybe better than the exisiting referees. The replacement referees maybe bad and called more fouls but at least they were consistent calling fouls on both teams. Unlike the NBA referees, it is pretty obvious some of them are biased against certain players and certain teams which are simply not accepted in sports!
