http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2840587 Crawford suspended for rest of season, playoffs at least The NBA suspended referee Joey Crawford indefinitely on Tuesday after he ejected Tim Duncan on Sunday in the Spurs' game against the Mavericks. Crawford's suspension will at least cover the rest of the regular season and the playoffs. "Joey Crawford's handling of this situation failed to meet the standards of professionalism and game management we expect of NBA referees," NBA commissioner David Stern said. "Especially in light of similar prior acts by this official, a significant suspension is warranted. Although Joey is consistently rated as one of our top referees, he must be held accountable for his actions on the floor, and we will have further discussions with him following the season to be sure he understands his responsibilities."
Sweet. This is great if for no other reason than to have other referees see some very public consequences for their decisions.
Wow, you can rule out the possibility the Spurs winning the NBA championship this year. No refs will give them any calls in any of the series. You can book it.
Wow, I knew Crawford will probably be suspended, but I didn't know they gonna make it public. If the other refs start to boycotting because of this, then the NBA gonna be in big trouble this playoffs.
Wow, I'm no Duncan fan, but this needed to be done. While all the Dallas fans loved Duncan getting kicked out, I thought it was stupid of Crawford to throw him out on idiotic reasons.
Chris Sheridan said on his ESPN blog that he expected this to happen. An unnamed source told him that David Stern was really pissed back in 2003 after the incident in which he issued like 10 techs in 4 minutes and ejected both Don Nelson and Del Harris during a playoff game...mad that Crawford became the story of the game. Stern reportedly told him that the consequences would be "dire" if it ever happened again. That's the "similar prior acts" he's talking about.
Jeff Van Gundy deserves his fine refunded. David Stern is horrible about pandering to his buddies. (Not defending Crawford. Just pointing out the gross inconsistencies.)
Well, language semantics aside. We all know David Stern ... he's one of those people that means what he says and acts decisively ... he's a bring the hammer down type of guy. If he really did warn Crawford to never let it happen again and it did, then Crawford shouldn't be surprised about getting suspended.
No, it means that Crawford is very hot-headed. When he "loses it" he calls too many T's and dominates the game. When he is not losing it, he actually gets himself in position, makes a decisive call, and is better than most at making the right call.
That is how I read it too and makes sense. I assume his high rating is because they review the tapes and he has high accuracy. I won't go this far, but I don't think the events will do they any favors for the Spurs. Refs are a frat--though it is possible some don't like JC so they didn't care. We just really need to celebrate the good timing of the events. --Refs will be on best behavior for keeping their egos in check before the playoffs. --The event hurt the Spurs --The event helped the Rockets And all this happended without costing a team a playoff game.
Yao gets hacked all game long with opponents harrasing him, pushing him out right with two hands. Yet Yao doesnt get a single call from that and get called touchy fouls on the ohter end. These refs deserve to be suspended for life. BTW, Duncan is a cry baby with rabbit eyes and Joey was wrong.
The more interesting disussion would be what effect it will have on referees in the playoffs? Crawford is a veteran- it is a shame he went the way he did- but let us hope the playoffs are drama free!
