'Environment of hostility' festering between NBA players, refs?
by Roscoe Nance

The referees' union is crying foul about the way some NBA coaches and players treat its members. The union cites 27 incidents over the past two seasons that resulted in coaches and players being suspended or fined for their behavior toward referees.

"Our greatest fear is that we're a step away from a referee being physically assaulted," Lamell McMorris, executive director of the National Basketball Referees Association, says. "That's where we are. That's the environment that's being created."

I guess thats the price you pay for being able to stand on an NBA court and decide the outcome of a game. I'm no mean machine, but I would gladly accept the possibility of being punched by Darius Miles in exchange for the good pay and incredible job of being an NBA referee.

I guess stranger things have happened but it is hard to believe that a NBA player would end his multi-million dollar career right then and there by slugging a referee.

But I do think it is not right that the players are allowed to cry and make these faces and generally and openly disrespect the officials. Baseball umpires have the code that you can say ABOUT anything to them and get away with it if you do not openly disrespect them so that onlookers can see it.

I notice too, that although there is a sjupposedly strict rule against touching the officials, players do that all the time without incurring techs or getting thrown out of games.

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Things appear to be at their darkest . . . . . . . . . just before they go totally black!!

I'm more interested in seeing if the league goes off on Sheed for his comments regarding the possible "fixing of games". You have to give him credit, either he's uncompromising in his integrity as it relates to "telling it like it is" from his perspective, (Damn the torpedos - full steam ahead).

Or, he's contemplated the possibility that his comments might retard the whistle blowing at least a little bit.

Or, he's assuming that the density of his monetary contributions to the NBA over the entirety of his career (see cost of the whistle blown) entitle him to make any number of charges as he's been immunized and he's almost 'family' anyway...

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"Be nice to people on your way up because you meet them on your way down"...Jimmy Durante

roscoe36


No sheet? Well what about the 1,127 horrible calls made by the striped blind men? What about the short African American ref (Crawford?) that's on the take?

Substitute the word "being" with "we've" in the above quote and they will know how to solve the problem.