An NBA whistle-blower exposed? It had to be done

Commissioner David Stern had to do something. Six months after making it a point of emphasis that referees crack down on excessive player behavior, the NBA simply could not let one of its referees, Joey Crawford, slide for throwing Tim Duncan out of a game for laughing after Crawford said to him, “Do you want to fight?”

The NBA’s behavior campaign, which has been in effect for about two years, wouldn’t have a shred of credibility if Stern had just given Crawford a warning. This wasn’t the first time Crawford had run amok. He was already working under a zero-tolerance warning after a technical-foul assessing spree in a playoff game four years ago.

But not many of us saw this coming. Stern suspended Crawford indefinitely, which is a stunner.

Stern said that Crawford didn’t particularly think he’d done anything wrong, and might decide on his own to be done with officiating NBA games for good -- which is another stunner.

Crawford isn’t just another zebra. He’s probably the most well-known NBA referee among basketball fans, the son of famous former baseball umpire Shag Crawford and the brother of current MLB umpire Jerry Crawford. The Crawfords are America’s first-family of officiating. And Joey isn’t just good at officiating basketball games; he might be the best. He’s been reffing NBA games for 30 years and has worked every NBA Finals since 1986.

But Sunday in Dallas, Crawford crossed the line with Duncan. Don’t get me wrong, Duncan isn’t innocent. He seems almost devoid of personality, but he’s a whiner, plain and simple. Even so, “Do you want to fight?” isn’t the response you want from a referee during a game. Duncan then said something completely benign to Crawford in protest of a foul call to earn one technical, and while on the bench was laughing visibly a few minutes later. Crawford hit Duncan with a second technical, which calls for automatic ejection.

Duncan’s offense?

The laughter. ABC’s microphones caught Crawford telling Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich that Duncan’s unpardonable sin was laughing at him. You could read Crawford’s lips as he said the words “making a mockery.” Duncan, incredulous, left the floor and uttered a profanity, which earned him a $25,000 fine. The episode isn’t subject to interpretation because it was captured on camera from multiple angles. Crawford was making the case that Duncan’s belly-laughing was an attempt to show up the referees. But Stern indicated that that excuse would not fly, that this had nothing to do with enforcing the early-season point of emphasis to assess technicals to players who slam the ball on the floor or run the other way pulling their jerseys over the heads.

And there’s something perhaps more bothersome, depending on how cynical you are.

By throwing Duncan out for no good reason, Crawford, no matter how unintentionally, gave Dallas an advantage the rest of the game. The Mavericks, with the No. 1 overall seed already wrapped up, had planned to play their starters only half the game. The Spurs were still fighting Phoenix for the No. 2 seed and home-court advantage in the second round of the playoffs and a win against Dallas would have forced the Suns to win in Houston and perhaps beat the Clippers, too.

Without Duncan, the Spurs lost the game and a chance at the No. 2 seed.

This matters because the NBA -- unlike MLB, the NFL and the NHL -- constantly and with great resentment fights the perception that some larger force (uh, the referees, league office and network partners) tries to influence the outcome to get favorable playoff matchups. Already, people in basketball circles have been openly rooting for a Suns-Mavericks Western Conference final because those teams have played the most entertaining basketball the NBA has seen in the past two years.

The Mavericks are almost a lock to get that far. The Suns, however, would have to go through the Spurs, a three-time champion with star players widely perceived as utterly boring on and off the court.

So now, if the Spurs and Suns are forced to a Game 7 to see which team advances to the conference final to play Dallas, guess where the game will be played?

Phoenix.

The conspiracy theorists were already at work before Duncan could get from the bench to the locker room after being tossed.

I covered the game for ABC and as soon as I finished listening to Duncan in the locker room and turned my cellphone on, I had four voice mail or text messages suggesting the usual. Two were from recently retired NBA players who quickly noted Crawford’s role in helping ensure the Suns home-court advantage. Yes, NBA players talk about “conspiracies” all the time, about who prefers what matchups and why. It’s a constant part of the postseason chatter, though nobody ever produces a speck of evidence that would support these allegations. And of all the referees in the league, Joey Crawford (because of his perceived toughness and independence) would be about the last name involved in such chatter.

But the appearance of impropriety can be damning.

And while Stern didn’t address that yesterday and probably won’t in any on-the-record discussion, it’s one of several reasons why he had to do something decisive.

Stern has proven to be quite the sheriff over the last couple of years, some would say unnecessarily so. I would say necessarily so (this is consistent), whether we’re talking about the dress code for players or the crackdown on on-court whining. The NBA, in fighting for its slice of the sports and entertainment pie, had better make sure its product is seen as a competition and not exhibition subject to any degree of interference or predetermination. Crawford’s suspension doesn’t need to be forever but he certainly needs to demonstrate he understands that challenging a player to a fight, then throwing him out of a game for laughing is reason for him to be chased from the court as well.