June 16, 2008


The NBA, especially the playoffs, used to be a lot of fun to watch.

As recent as 2001, the NBA was exciting. The storied franchises, the mega stars and the jitters that were created from watching two teams display profound heart and athleticism not only made the NBA playoffs a chance to watch good basketball, but it made watching an NBA playoff game an event.

You didn’t dare miss the game, because just as looking at a sirloin steak doesn’t compare to eating it, “Sports Center” highlights wouldn’t be able to describe what you’d just missed. It was always about the game and the potential greatness. You almost knew that someone would do something so riveting, that it would be discussed over family dinners, wedding receptions and at the local water cooler for years to come. You had to be ‘in the moment’ to see ‘Shaq’ nearly ripping the entire basket down, or to see Robert Horry make yet another miraculous last-second shot. Back then, the NBA playoffs could compete with college basketball’s “March Madness,” because it was always about the greatness of the game. Not once did it ever occur to anyone that the integrity of that game could have been compromised.

Sadly though, a lot has changed since 2001.

Instead of being able to focus on the next moment that you’ll be able to scream and jump in euphoria; causing the dog to bark at you like you’re possessed and the neighbors to bang on the walls out of annoyance, fans are subconsciously forced to dissect a part of the game that fans should not have to worry about. In light of the NBA’s current referee scandal in which former NBA referee Tim Donaghy alleges that NBA referees wrongfully influenced playoff games to suit television ratings and fan popularity, fans must now silently and sometimes loudly question the league that they had put so much faith in for “pure” entertainment. This is disturbing, especially since the NBA has suffered a major decline since 2001.

The NBA already has a problem with quality. Most of its teams have far too few players who can actually excel at basketball basics. Nowadays, the idea of having more than two players on an NBA team who can shoot a jump-shot, seems about as outlandish as watching sewer rats sit down and play a video game. Thus, for NBA fans to now have the burden of focusing on the referees takes away from a product that is already sub-par when compared to years ago.

Frankly, the idea that NBA refs are tampering with the outcomes of NBA games exposes the NBA to constant question and scrutiny. Now, that foul that seemed phantom-like can now be disputed as some sinister plot to increase games and ratings. In fact, one of Donaghy’s main examples is a 2002 playoff game between the L.A. Lakers and the Sacramento Kings. The Lakers, who were trailing in the series 3-2, were the beneficiaries of 27 fourth quarter foul-shots, while the Kings only attempted nine.  Sadly, this isn’t the only time that the result of Game Six of the 2002 Western Conference Finals was called into question.

In fact, The Lakers-Kings series was the only one that postseason that went seven games, and the officiating in Game Six was so questionable that consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader called for a formal investigation.*

 Instead of appearing to protect the purity of the game, NBA games according to Donaghy, are more like ECW wrestling contests, in which all of the participants know the outcome long before the match even starts. The only difference here is the fact that the men in the black and white striped shirts allegedly knew the outcome long before the game started.


Let’s be real here…


Even the slightest assumption that the NBA is purposely affecting the outcomes of games, especially playoff games, goes against even the most novice basketball fan enjoys, because it ceases being about the greatness of the game. Even more than that, it’s insulting to the most loyal fans.

The most loyal fans have had to endure the deterioration of the jump-shot and the annoyingly excessive dribbling that many of today’s players seem to employ.

We have even had to tolerate the more-than-occasional social ‘foh paux’ from even the NBA’s brightest stars.

Now we have to suspect our referees of ‘funny business’?

Sure, NBA refs and their incompetence has been a legendary part of the NBA. We’ve all seen the foul that should have been called on Michael Jordan when he pushed Bryan Russell out of the way. Everyone has also seen how Shaquille O’Neal lowered his shoulder and pushed the opposing center into the next zip code, only to hear a foul called on the opposing center. But, the idea of rogue referees who purposely call fouls on a team with the goal of making sure that one teams wins is the ‘icing’ on a really sour, musty, stinky cake.   

For all of us devoted fans who have sat at the edge of our seats as ‘nervous wrecks,’ during the fourth quarter of a playoff game, or who have thrown babies in the air out of the sheer jubilation that can only be caused by the sinking of a last-second shot, only to realize that we now had to calm the crying baby down, we can only hope that the allegations of Mr. Tim Donaghy are false.  

For the most part, in a great NBA game, the referees are an afterthought to an experienced fan; unseen and rarely heard until the their whistle goes off and the game must stop momentarily. Hopefully, it can stay that way and we can once again focus on the game itself, instead of having to focus on questionable calls by refs who have more to gain than just trying to keep the game fair.

The game; that’s all that NBA fans should have to focus on, even if it isn’t as good as it used to be.

_{*Taken from ESPN.com.}