Players complaining about the refs is nothing new. Coaches complaining about the refs publicly is. This will blowover when the referee union remembers that they have no real power. Remember what happened in baseball when the umps tried to stand up for themselves? JVG will be here next year. I can't see Les letting him go after he turned the way the Rockets turned around last year. I'm sure Les couldn't care less about the refs and what they think.
I love how the refs say they need to be protected. As if they need more protection when working a job where they can literally do no wrong. Imagine the IEEE saying to a bunch of civil engineers, "yeah we know the bridge you designed collapsed and killed 200 people, but don't you worry about a thing."
Exactly. The media can NOT interview officials after a game. Those guys are the most protected guys in the league. What exactly is this union chumpy crying about? I can't believe this moron was even allowed to make a public statement like this without incurring the wrath of the NBA brass. If he's gonna be allowed to open his mouth when he thinks he's been wronged, then he better keep it open when he's the one doing wrong. Oh, but wait, no one's allowed to question the officiating without being fined. What a joke.
Well, he "retracted" his statements (more like he was faced with stern's yelling at him "YOU FU**ING PIECE OF ****!! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE CHALLENGING ME AND MY OFFICE'S DECISIONS REGARDING THIS? DO YOU HONESTLY THINK YOU CAN CHANGE IT? WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT COMES UP IN 2008, YOU WILL BE FLIPPING BURGERS AT YOUR FU**ING LOCAL FAST-FOOD CHAIN!")
NBA officiating has taken a turn for the worst. I think it is terrible that fans have to worry if their coach is in good favor with the officials so they can get a “fair” game called. I believe there is only one solution to the problem. The NBA needs a commissioner with the intestinal fortitude to begin a simple “fining system”, the more important the game, the bigger the fine. All they do is look at tapes to fine a player or a coach. Let’s get out those same tapes and even up this thing called justice. The officials should be held to the same level of accountability as the player and coaches. Lastly wouldn’t it be something if the players and coaches got together and David (ball-licker) Stern that the matter wont be closed until they fire the “head of officials”?