NBA ref sues Twolves writer for tweet about corrupt officiating

[Roy H.]

An NBA referee is taking The Associated Press to court.

Bill Spooner, a 22-year veteran NBA official, is suing Minnesota Timberwolves beat reporter Jon Krawczynski for tweeting during a game that Spooner promised coach Kurt Rambis that he'd get the Wolves two points in the form of a make-up call, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal reports.

According to Spooner's suit, Rambis took umbrage with a foul called against his team in the second quarter of a Jan. 24 game against the Houston Rockets. Spooner then told an upset Rambis that he'd review the call at halftime.

Rambis asked how his team was supposed to get the two points back. While Spooner's suit claims he didn't respond to the Minnesota coach's question, Krawczynski tweeted otherwise.

"Ref Bill Spooner told Rambis he'd 'get it back' after a bad call," Krawczynski tweeted. "Then he made an even worse call on Rockets. That's NBA officiating folks."

Minnesota lost the game 129-125.

Spooner's suit seeks over $75,000 in damages along with both an unpublishing and retraction of the statement on the grounds that the tweet is a defamatory accusation.

"We believe all of the facts we reported from the game in question were accurate," AP Associate General Counsel Dave Tomlin said in a statement.

Link.

It probably would have been better for Spooner's reputation if he never filed the lawsuit, because now his allegedly crooked officiating is going to get a lot more coverage. 

Would it shock anybody if this happened?  I mean, we've all heard of "make up" calls being part of the game, this just seems to be confirmation of that.

[Rondo2287]

An NBA referee is taking The Associated Press to court.

Bill Spooner, a 22-year veteran NBA official, is suing Minnesota Timberwolves beat reporter Jon Krawczynski for tweeting during a game that Spooner promised coach Kurt Rambis that he'd get the Wolves two points in the form of a make-up call, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal reports.

According to Spooner's suit, Rambis took umbrage with a foul called against his team in the second quarter of a Jan. 24 game against the Houston Rockets. Spooner then told an upset Rambis that he'd review the call at halftime.

Rambis asked how his team was supposed to get the two points back. While Spooner's suit claims he didn't respond to the Minnesota coach's question, Krawczynski tweeted otherwise.

"Ref Bill Spooner told Rambis he'd 'get it back' after a bad call," Krawczynski tweeted. "Then he made an even worse call on Rockets. That's NBA officiating folks."

Minnesota lost the game 129-125.

Spooner's suit seeks over $75,000 in damages along with both an unpublishing and retraction of the statement on the grounds that the tweet is a defamatory accusation.

"We believe all of the facts we reported from the game in question were accurate," AP Associate General Counsel Dave Tomlin said in a statement.

Link.

It probably would have been better for Spooner's reputation if he never filed the lawsuit, because now his allegedly crooked officiating is going to get a lot more coverage. 

Would it shock anybody if this happened?  I mean, we've all heard of "make up" calls being part of the game, this just seems to be confirmation of that.

Great find Roy, Do you think Rambis would be banned from the league if he came out and supported the writer over the ref?

[Donoghus]

An NBA referee is taking The Associated Press to court.

Bill Spooner, a 22-year veteran NBA official, is suing Minnesota Timberwolves beat reporter Jon Krawczynski for tweeting during a game that Spooner promised coach Kurt Rambis that he'd get the Wolves two points in the form of a make-up call, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal reports.

According to Spooner's suit, Rambis took umbrage with a foul called against his team in the second quarter of a Jan. 24 game against the Houston Rockets. Spooner then told an upset Rambis that he'd review the call at halftime.

Rambis asked how his team was supposed to get the two points back. While Spooner's suit claims he didn't respond to the Minnesota coach's question, Krawczynski tweeted otherwise.

"Ref Bill Spooner told Rambis he'd 'get it back' after a bad call," Krawczynski tweeted. "Then he made an even worse call on Rockets. That's NBA officiating folks."

Minnesota lost the game 129-125.

Spooner's suit seeks over $75,000 in damages along with both an unpublishing and retraction of the statement on the grounds that the tweet is a defamatory accusation.

"We believe all of the facts we reported from the game in question were accurate," AP Associate General Counsel Dave Tomlin said in a statement.

Link.

It probably would have been better for Spooner's reputation if he never filed the lawsuit, because now his allegedly crooked officiating is going to get a lot more coverage. 

Would it shock anybody if this happened?  I mean, we've all heard of "make up" calls being part of the game, this just seems to be confirmation of that.

I'm almost certain that happened.  Refs and coaches talk all the time. 

Play at any level and odds are you'll hear & see something along the lines of "Sorry, I botched that one" and you'll see some ridiculous whistle that is a make up call.  I guess where Spooner probably went wrong here was openly telling Rambis that "he''d get it back".  Seems more often that its just implied.

[wdleehi]

I hope this gets to court the press puts how the NBA officiate games at the center of the stage. 

[rondohondo]

There is no reason to think that this didn't happen. Any legit reporter isn't going to tweet that if it's not true. It happens all the time in the NBA with makeup calls , that is the main reason why I can't stand the officiating in the NBA. They will make one horrible call for one team and then make up for it by making an even worse call against the opposing team. It really is a joke .

David Stern and his minions have way too much control over the outcome of games.

Don't even get me started over the 2 missed goaltending calls in last night game  

[rondohondo]

oh and how could they prove if he said it or not? are the refs mic'd the whole game ? There is no way of proving he did or didn't say it unless it was caught on camera or they were mic'd

You think this suit will get thrown out Roy?

[pearljammer10]

An NBA referee is taking The Associated Press to court.

Bill Spooner, a 22-year veteran NBA official, is suing Minnesota Timberwolves beat reporter Jon Krawczynski for tweeting during a game that Spooner promised coach Kurt Rambis that he'd get the Wolves two points in the form of a make-up call, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal reports.

According to Spooner's suit, Rambis took umbrage with a foul called against his team in the second quarter of a Jan. 24 game against the Houston Rockets. Spooner then told an upset Rambis that he'd review the call at halftime.

Rambis asked how his team was supposed to get the two points back. While Spooner's suit claims he didn't respond to the Minnesota coach's question, Krawczynski tweeted otherwise.

"Ref Bill Spooner told Rambis he'd 'get it back' after a bad call," Krawczynski tweeted. "Then he made an even worse call on Rockets. That's NBA officiating folks."

Minnesota lost the game 129-125.

Spooner's suit seeks over $75,000 in damages along with both an unpublishing and retraction of the statement on the grounds that the tweet is a defamatory accusation.

"We believe all of the facts we reported from the game in question were accurate," AP Associate General Counsel Dave Tomlin said in a statement.

Link.

It probably would have been better for Spooner's reputation if he never filed the lawsuit, because now his allegedly crooked officiating is going to get a lot more coverage. 

Would it shock anybody if this happened?  I mean, we've all heard of "make up" calls being part of the game, this just seems to be confirmation of that.

Yea, I think they ref should have just left this one alone. All he is doing is creating more attention to corrupt officials.  Since he brought the law suit up, if its somehow proven he said this, its just another hit to officiating, if he had left it alone millions of fans (me being one of them) would never even had saw this tweet and questioned the officiating further.

[Roy H.]

oh and how could they prove if he said it or not? are the refs mic'd the whole game ? There is no way of proving he did or didn't say it unless it was caught on camera or they were mic'd

You think this suit will get thrown out Roy?

I doubt this goes very far.  The ref could potentially win if Rambis were to testify that the incident never happened, I suppose, but it's unlikely that either side will want to spend the tens of thousands of dollars to fully litigate this case. 

[Finkelskyhook]

There is no reason to think that this didn't happen. Any legit reporter isn't going to tweet that if it's not true. It happens all the time in the NBA with makeup calls , that is the main reason why I can't stand the officiating in the NBA. They will make one horrible call for one team and then make up for it by making an even worse call against the opposing team. It really is a joke .

David Stern and his minions have way too much control over the outcome of games.

Don't even get me started over the 2 missed goaltending calls in last night game  

There are about as many "legit" American reporters in sports as there are at CNN, NBC, ABC, and CBS combined.

You can count those "legit" network reporters combined with the "legit" sports reporters and still have a finger or two left on one hand.

Sadly, I'd tend to believe Spooner here.  I think the officials are stuck between a rock and a hard place.  There's an obvious directive to keep star players on the court by swallowing the whistle on both ends.  Star players are allowed to flagrantly travel in front of officials...Rarely get in foul trouble...Allowed to say whatever they want in spite of the so-called rule changes.  At some point the officials have to crack.  Their integrity is constantly challenged by by the fans,  players, coaches, and those "legit" reporters.  IMHO, they have to compromise their integrity every second an NBA star is on the court.  I can't imagine they enjoy officiating by 3 sets of rules.

[screwedupmaniac]

What purpose does suing the man have anyways? Where does free speech begin and end? The paparazzi tell lies about celebrities without getting sued all the time...even if this guy is lying, is there even a case?

[Moranis]

An NBA referee is taking The Associated Press to court.

Bill Spooner, a 22-year veteran NBA official, is suing Minnesota Timberwolves beat reporter Jon Krawczynski for tweeting during a game that Spooner promised coach Kurt Rambis that he'd get the Wolves two points in the form of a make-up call, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal reports.

According to Spooner's suit, Rambis took umbrage with a foul called against his team in the second quarter of a Jan. 24 game against the Houston Rockets. Spooner then told an upset Rambis that he'd review the call at halftime.

Rambis asked how his team was supposed to get the two points back. While Spooner's suit claims he didn't respond to the Minnesota coach's question, Krawczynski tweeted otherwise.

"Ref Bill Spooner told Rambis he'd 'get it back' after a bad call," Krawczynski tweeted. "Then he made an even worse call on Rockets. That's NBA officiating folks."

Minnesota lost the game 129-125.

Spooner's suit seeks over $75,000 in damages along with both an unpublishing and retraction of the statement on the grounds that the tweet is a defamatory accusation.

"We believe all of the facts we reported from the game in question were accurate," AP Associate General Counsel Dave Tomlin said in a statement.

Link.

It probably would have been better for Spooner's reputation if he never filed the lawsuit, because now his allegedly crooked officiating is going to get a lot more coverage. 

Would it shock anybody if this happened?  I mean, we've all heard of "make up" calls being part of the game, this just seems to be confirmation of that.

It would absolutely shock me if Spooner told Rambis he would get it back.  I wouldn't be surprised if there was a makeup call, but if the official told the coach that it would be astonishing.

[zerophase]

Just wondering... isn't the ability to tweet considered free speech? I don't see how a court can rule in favor of the ref under the 1st amendment.

[mgent]

When can we just get rid of all these corrupt/inadequate refs and hire ones that will call the game like it used to be called, the way it's supposed to be called.

[Rondo2287]

Just wondering... isn't the ability to tweet considered free speech? I don't see how a court can rule in favor of the ref under the 1st amendment.

It can be considered slander or libel I would think.  If the ref denies he said it and it defames his character and could bring his competence towards doing his job into question.

[Tai]

Just wondering... isn't the ability to tweet considered free speech? I don't see how a court can rule in favor of the ref under the 1st amendment.

It can be considered slander or libel I would think.  If the ref denies he said it and it defames his character and could bring his competence towards doing his job into question.

I can only assume the writer is in a position of power and thus could be sued on the basis that his word may mean more than the average fan, then? Cause let's face it, fans slander the refs all the time.