Enough of the "fix-jobs"

[BballTim]

  So you don't think that certain players (like Kobe or LeBron) get more calls in their favor than other players? You don't think teams like the Spurs get more calls in their favor in general than teams like the Hawks?

In terms of star treatment, that is absolutely apparent, but its due to a deficiency in the referees themselves (Kobe is able to sell a foul a lot better than Tony Allen is).  I don't believe the Spurs get more calls in their favor in general, unless you have a statistic to support that.

  You can't show it with stats. But even if you just go with certain stars getting calls, then you'd have to conclude that the refereeing favors their team. It's pretty much a given that they way the refereeing is done is just the way the league wants it done, and clearly the league markets those stars and wants to see them playing deep in the playoffs. The league wouldn't have meetings with the refs about which teams they want to advance, but they'd only need to if the team they wanted to advance was the team that doesn't have a star player (unlikely). While it isn't a "fix", it's slanting the field in favor of the teams with the most marketable players.

[Finkelskyhook]

I don't think any ref is fixing games intentionally.  But the argument that the games aren't fixed don't hold a lot of water either.  The argument about the three ways fouls are called in IPs post, for instance.

It would be hard to dispute that the Messiah (primadonna  whatever) is officiated by his own rules.  He doesn't travel.  He can draw a foul on anybody within half court of where he is.  Even though sometimes the person "committing" the foul isn't around the play. Etc.

Brendan Haywood's foul against any other NBA player is at most a flagrant 1.  I would challenge anybody to dispute that.  Brendan Haywood is also Washington's best low post defender and best shotblocker.  Whether the ejection from Haywood's foul is intended to fix the game in Cleveland's favor, without question, it does.  No intention intended by the official.  But the result, with or without intention, is exactly the same.

That argument could be applied to any star call and how it changes the nature of the NBA game as a whole.