Why are the refs so protected?

[SamuelAdams]

This goading-watching happens alot more than realised.

Perk got a lot of attention earlier this year when his T's were much higher. I would watch refs, like Joey, stare and follow at Perk after he was called for a foul waiting to see his reaction.

I don't like the refs for the most part but this is an area where their human weaknesses just come through.

[Schupac]

Why are the refs so protected?  Well gee, I think if I was consistently bad at my job I'd like to be protected too.


Agreed with both Chris and Rondo987 - the rule is in place for a reason, and that is to stop too much whining from happening.  But if the coach is complaining about something and has a valid point, it's stupid to fine them.  Doc Rivers was fined for publicly agreeing with the NBA's stance - that the referee did something he shouldn't have.

Ultimately, the officiating is the league's #1 problem.  Not public perception about prima donna players, not small market teams, and in my opinion not even labor negotiations.  Fans are starting to become too aware of how bad NBA officiating is, and it is eroding the fan base.

[Schupac]

Here's the referee union's response (article from espn) http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4000739

I like this last quote

"The thing that's most troubling is the fact that this person was fined for doing his job and for following the rules and the training and for trying to do his job to minimize the situation and the conflict, and for walking away," McMorris said. "So that's very troubling to all the officials and they're very alarmed by this matter, because one matter like this affects the ability of all of them to do their jobs."

Yeah!  So you better not bring it up again or we'll get even WORSE about it!

[RAcker]

"The thing that's most troubling is the fact that this person was fined for doing his job and for following the rules and the training and for trying to do his job to minimize the situation and the conflict, and for walking away," McMorris said. "So that's very troubling to all the officials and they're very alarmed by this matter, because one matter like this affects the ability of all of them to do their jobs."

Yeah, it will interfere with their fixing of games.   

[Bankshot]

David Stern and his refs are a joke!

[droopdog7]

It seems to me that complaining about the refs is in a competitors nature.  Watch any game and you'll see a player complain about a call that was obviously correct. I think rasheed Wallace does it three times a game.  After every high stakes game, BOTH fan bases are claiming they got screwed.  Without this kind of rule, complaining about refs would get out of hand quickly.  And by the way, only a certain kind of complaining gets people in trouble. It is when they question the integrity of the red.

[Chris]

I think the coaches are just warned not to say things like this in the media or other public forum.  However, do you think any action would have been taken if Doc would have written a nice letter?   

Of course not.  The rule is against doing it to the media.  I imagine things like that are communicated to the league offices all the time, its just a problem when it is made public, since it puts the league in a tough position, and paints them in a bad light.

I would think that the Refs Union has a lot to do with it.

After reading their response, I think this is absolutely the case. 

I would imagine this was a sticking point in their last CBA.

[cool breeze]

However, do you think any action would have been taken if Doc would have written a nice letter?   

Hard to say, but it's not unprecedented. Jim O'Brien was tossed from a game by Jess Kersey under similar circumstances during his tenure here. I couldn't find a link, but it was in '02 or '03 I believe. Kersey goaded Obie into the first tech, and then proceeded to say "just shut up and coach" to which JOB went ballistic, resulting in the aforementioned boot. Celtics wrote the league office, and they rescinded both technical fouls, but that's all we ever heard about it.

[RebusRankin]

Their union is full of it. People criticize players, coaches and executives, why shouldn't refs be criticized too. Plus Kennedy didn't walk away, he acted like a jerk.

[rondo987]

I just think the biggest thing that worries me right now is how the refs will react to this in future games leading up to and during thep playoffs this season. From here on out, I feel like every time the celtics get a bad call against them we are going to turn to this incident, which is sad.

[Schupac]

What worries me most is the FBI reding celticsmaniac's post.

[CoachBo]

It's the "Thin Blue Line" mentality you see with policemen, who will defend each other's actions, whatever they may be.

And you see this with officials at every level of the sport. They're beyond reproach. Just ask them.

I believe it was Lord Acton who said, "Power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely."

[Amonkey]

“As far as we’re concerned, Billy Kennedy followed every rule according to the referee’s manual as it relates to handling situations like this. The only person in this scenario who has had a pattern of behavior that is unprofessional is Doc Rivers, not Billy Kennedy.”

This is what gets me worried.  This is what the head of the referee union said.  Now to me that is highly unprofessional and unethical to single out a coach like that when you are the spokesperson for the referees.  Seriously, this is the kind of the thing that only makes things more sketchy.  This is the kind of thing that Stern should look into if he was to protect the integrity of the referees.  Of course, that won't happen.

[dark_lord]

this whole scenario proves that there is a double standards within the nba, and that there is possible corruption within the officials and the nba itself.

[cdif911]

there's two separate things going on here.

1) If refs are calling a game down the middle, they should be protected. Sometimes an unpopular call is not an unfair call.  Keeping the authority of the officials is critically important toward keeping the integrity of the game.  If refs aren't respected, it becomes that much easier for them to lose control of a game.  Negative comments/actions should not be taken toward refs externally.  It is a human game, and refs do make mistakes, but only the most blatant should be punished, and there should be a process - my proposal is below:

2) Bad refs should not be allowed to ref.  Teams/players/coaches should be allowed to evaluate refs and request certain refs (perhaps 1 or 2 a year) not ref their games.  In Mass HS tournament games, coaches are allowed to request certain refs not reg their games - extend this to the pros - fire the bottom 10% of refs every year and replace them with the top 10% of NBDL or NCAA refs - the bottom 10% can exchange jobs and work their way back up - that way no one loses a job, just the status (would satisfy the union a bit better)