I know the title is a bit dramatic but I came by an article off of SI.com that reaffirms what I belived all along HTML: http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/nba?page=2 Five seconds to go last Sunday, my Paper Clips down three, Kobe Bryant informs Eric Gordon, who buried a 3 on the previous possession, "Don't worry about it, you're not going to take this shot. I'm gonna hold you the whole time, and they're not gonna call a foul." Clips inbound, Bryant horse-collars Gordon the entire five seconds, Lakers win. The refs' explanation: Gordon was holding Kobe. Yup, that's rational. Gordon held Kobe on offense so he wouldn't have to catch and shoot! New York Post!!
They let Kobe get away with a lot but he's a superstar. If the refs treated him like they did Rasheed Wallace he would be ejected every game.
If this is actually true, then I don't really know what to make of it. On one hand, it's Kobe Bryant, and he's obviously going to get superstar treatment. On the other hand, it's things like this that are making fans more and more disgusted with the officials. I just don't understand why David Stern hasn't taken a more pro-active approach to assuring fans that the referees are under the highest scrutiny. I mean, after last night's debacle in Sacramento, how can anyone trust an NBA ref to make the right call in a game-deciding situation? And yet, there hasn't been a peep from the NBA front offices about the whole thing at all.
LeBron gets away with more than Kobe. Wade, Kobe, and LeBron are pretty equal in getting away with fouls/violations, but if I had to choose one from the group that gets away with the most, it's LeBron.
As surprising as it seems,Stern will never do anything about the referring unless tremendous pressure is brought open him. He is all about marketing and making money. The quality of the game doesn't bother him as long as the fans keep on coming to them.
Without even clicking the link I knew it was from the NY Post, and I knew who the author was. He gets you guys every time. Peter Vescey.
This is easily true. Doesn't anybody watch NBA games? They never call fouls at the end of games ON ANYONE. huh?!
Exactly. We whine and complain about referees all season long yet we still continue to watch the games we love. In the end, Stern still walk out as the winner!
