The conundrum between the NBA, its players, its officials and the fans

Given the recent post by High Tops entitled, "Refs & the Integrity of the Game" --a solid swag btw--at this highly topical issue, I felt compelled to delve beyond the "Refs Suck!" and "Sacramento and its players always get screwed" diatribes which do little to further the validity behind those impassioned albeit sophomoric sentiments.

This matter cannot be analyzed and remedied in one setting so let me preface by saying this post has no ambition to comprehensively cover all its myriad complexities or nuances, nor bring this matter to any logical conclusion. However, there is a fair amount of misunderstanding and maligned angst that needs to be addressed so that the real issues that persist can be discussed and perhaps a valid and tangible outcome is feasible. I endeavor without being facetious nor didactic to add credence to the conundrum that plagues this great game we are so vested in, while dispelling dispersions that unfairly classify our men and woman who officiate the game.

Background:  I am no expert. I was never in the NBA's employ, nor played basketball beyond the high school level. Although I garnered national acclaim collegiately in a different sport, I cannot claim any inside relevance beyond my few meager friendships and acquaintances that either played in the NBA, work in the NBA or officiate in the NBA.

Qualifications:  I lived in Sacramento over 24 years, have loved the Sacramento Kings since 10,333 fans filled Arco, and officiated multiple sports including basketball for over 17 years. I have officiated the game of basketball at the elementary school level, all the way up to Pro Summer League and have attended dozens of camps led by NBA Officials, College Assignors, Pro/College Scouts and Observers. With all due respect to those that have lived in Sacramento longer or know which side of the river the Kansas City Kings used to play or played the game professionally, there is much to learn.

Thesis:  The NBA is an entertainment juggernaut predicated on showcasing its stars and pandering to its corporate and copious clientele and should not be construed to be bound to a democratic oath that lauds fairness and in deference to the minority to maintain equality and balance. It is greater than the sum of its parts, whose ends justify its means and therefore cannot be held accountable for any apparent deviation from its own rules, policies or standards.

The NBA Rights and Privileges: The NBA reserves the right to modify, alter, ignore, exploit, deviate, subjugate, embellish, trivialize, create, etc., anything or anyone, so long as it is in the best financial interest of its brand: The NBA. Therefore they are indemnified and above reproach from any person, player, place or thing that suggests or claims any rights or privileges that have not already been or continue to be bestowed by the NBA, its affiliates and its assigns.

NBA Definitions:

1. Prospects - Individuals that aspire to be employed by the NBA.

2. Players - Individuals that are currently employed by the NBA.

3. Retired Players - Individuals that were formerly employed by the NBA.

4. Stars - Players that are considered part of the NBA Brand. They are entitled to the Rights and Privileges held by the NBA and therefore not subject to the confines and rigidity of the rules and regulations otherwise required of other employees of the NBA.

5. Employees - Any person that works for the NBA with varying levels of Rights and Privileges.

6. Officials/Game Management - A sub-class of workers contracted by the NBA. They include:  score keepers, clock operators, timers, referees, etc. They are not empowered, entitled or eligible for any of the Rights and Privileges held by the NBA and are duly subject to the confines and rigidity of the rules and regulations otherwise required of and evaluated by the NBA to ensure the longevity of the NBA Brand.

7. Fans - Sponsors, Corporations, Networks, Team Owners and Season Ticket Holders or better known as The Money. If you are not a visible consumer of their product you are not classified as a fan and therefore your opinion does not count.

The Brand, followed by The Money, followed by its Stars, followed by everyone else completes the hierarchy. You must acknowledge this premise in order to move forward and further dissect our quandary. Although a substantial amount of people on StR didn't need the primer, I had to digress and define what many already know to be obvious because a few continue to rant about officiating in the NBA without realizing that their cries for vigilance are akin to the neighborhood demanding the beat cop incarcerate the street pusher when the supplier devilishly continues unabated.

The NBA establishes the rules of the game, they control the product--not the Officials. The Officials merely administrate the game in a manner that is consistent with the spirit of the rules while protecting the integrity of the NBA Brand. It is a conflict of interest unseen in high school and college basketball. Your angst that officials screw you is mostly unfounded. Ask any player who played in the NBA when Jordan played and they will tell you that yes they played in the JBA (Jordan Basketball Association). The NBA protects its Stars. They want their Stars on the floor at the end of the game.

That will is imposed on the Officials. When Michael Jordan made an athletic move to the basket in the form of a turn-around jump stop, while dragging his pivot, he was seldom called for the travel. When John Stockton released a potential three-pointer and his defender made contact with his shooting arm even after the shot was released, he usually went to the line. We have all seen Kobe, Shaq, Duncan, Iverson (insert Star here) blatantly benefit from discretion bestowed on them by the Brand. All this time you have been blaming the Officials when the League is mandating this. A league filled without their Stars, cannot sustain their Brand.

They fear their Fans will not drive the value of their product if officials called the game without obeisance to Stars which represent the Brand. Shaq would have spent half his career on the bench in foul trouble if the Officials were allowed to call the game correctly. I think we should all exclaim bull crap on this and protest. I promise you, if the NBA wanted the game called correctly, the Officials would call it correctly. You cannot claim to be an NBA follower and expect anything different in the same way you cannot claim to be Catholic without accepting the Divinity of Christ.

Now that the white elephant has been properly acknowledged, there is some level of recourse. Since the Owners of NBA franchises are regarded by the league, they can submit video for the NBA to review highlighting where their players are being held to a different standard. There is no need to involve Congress, and the league will manage that. Promoting their own stars will help the cause. If you watched Tim Donaghy's interview with 60 minutes, he references how the Laker organization pushed for Kobe to get more calls.

In another post I may divulge more fully the day in the life of a Basketball Offical in the NBA, but suffice it to say that there is an email message on their blackberry after their game that supplements the post game review they have with their fellow officials that night, the game evaluation and grade that is filed by the Observer, and the league's video review of their game, calls, mechanics and positioning.

They morning after, they must login and review video clips of the night's previous games where a controversal play happened and submit what they believe the ruling should be and pass daily pop quizzes on the Rules and Mechanics of the NBA. They must also acknowledge and follow NBA communications and memos that come down instructing them on how to handle certain situations that arise throughout the season that the NBA deems important. In a nutshell, they are micro-managed by The NBA to conform. When the don't know a rule in a game they are suspended. If they flunk a test, they are suspended. If they lose their cool and respond back to a coach or player in a less than professional manner--even when they were disrespected or shown up--then they are suspended. Suspensions cost them money. Those that finish graded in the bottom of their group do not have their contract renewed. They are gagged to protect the NBA Brand. Trust me, if they could speak, you would lose a whole lot of respect for the Stars in the league and/or the league itself.

For many, the game of basketball as we know it is such a departure from the NBA game that it may as well be a foreign language. Yet everyone waxes expertise. News flash:  Just because you played organized basketball, coached basketball or blog about basketball doesn't mean your homework assignment is over. If you have the pleasure to meet and talk to an NBA Player, they will confess to you that they were shocked when they came into the league and knew so little about the rules of the game and how the NBA operates its Brand. Coaches confess that they struggle with that as well.

If you haven't ever done so, I highly recommend reading the NBA Rules as it will surprise you on how complex the game actually is. You would never give an editorial about a book you haven't read and the same should apply to the NBA game. If you don't know the rules of the game, there is a good chance your assessment on what was called, not called or when it is called is wrong.

Mechanics of Officiating: Anyone who has been volunteered for their kid's AYSO game can attest is not easy to translate what you think you saw into a whistle, a command and a signal all while running with a jerky gate for a couple of hours at a time. On top of that, where you position yourself is as much art as science and requires years of experience to know based on the players, the play and the possible outcomes where to be on the field or court.

I cringe when I hear people say "these are the worst officials I have ever seen" when at a professional game. It is insulting to everyone who has ever blown a whistle to hear that from someone who couldn't do it themselves. Officials must learn and master how to communicate the game through their presence, voice, whistle and their signals. NBA officials carry an additional burden of balancing the Rules versus perpetuating the Brand.

Officiating Philosophy: Fouls occur on every play. They cannot call them all. They must use discretion to determine which ones to call and which ones to pass on. Every play has a beginning, a middle and an end. For example:  An official who calls a foul too quickly when they see an infraction at the top of the key, may miss the the fact that a player in the post is wide open. If they wait, a quick pass may result in an easy lay-in. A coach might prefer their post player score than have to run an out-of-bounds play.

Every possession has multiple competitive match-ups (both on ball and off ball) and a window that give you a visual angle on the player with the ball and the player(s) defending the play. Every play or sequence involves advantage and disadvantage. A good official reconciles all of this before choosing to pass or make a call on a given play, timing is critical and in basketball, you don't have the luxury to throw a flag and come together and talk about what you thought you saw.

Without getting into specific games recently, I doubt any of you take all those factors into consideration when concluding your team's player didn't get the call. Furthermore, most people watch the ball. Few focus off ball. Based on some of the deft observations by our own StR crew I know that some of you do evaluate the post play off ball and observe which guys move well without the ball, but most followers of the game typically watch the guy with the ball even when their team is on defense.

The big mistake with this is you cannot fairly judge a play if you don't see both the offensive player and the defensive player simultaneously. You might see the offensive player push off, but you may have missed the defensive player not in a legal guarding position. Camera angels are not usually good windows into a play. Hence several camera angles are needed in instant replay in order to help determine the right call. How many times have you thought something was missed only to be beguiled by a different camera angle?

Official Control: This could be a whole separate post given all the nuances that go on during a game. Coaches and Players have certain expectations out of their fellow Officials. They want all the calls to go their way. Players and Coaches are always trying to gain an advantage and expect that is is up to the officials to catch them and police this. They don't care how many they got away with but bemoan when the other team does so. Officials do have some latitude here as they cannot call every infraction. Coaches and Players try to exploit this. As a result sometimes a call preempts a shenanigan and sometimes it is delayed until a later play.

For example: During the pre-game meeting the Officials discuss a game situation where a particular player routinely trips or holds a cutter and the team they are playing has an alley-oop play designed for a back-side cutter. When they go on the court they meet with the captains and tell them that they are watching for the trip and the hold off ball. At the same time the captain replies back that the other team's cutters are getting away with pushing off. They are both right.

So when the play occurs and the defender holds and the cutter pushes off, who do you penalize? In some cases you have to call it on one and look to call it on the other team when the chance permits regardless of how ticky tack it seems to the observer.

Another example of control can be explained when things occur on the court only the Player/Coach and the Official are privy to. Lots of times an Official's integrity is questioned, or the banter crosses a line. It may not be in the best interest of the game to stop, administer the technical and show up the player/coach, but understand the next questionable call that could go either way is not going that player/team's way. 

In the end, the officials that leverage that control but don't abuse it and can be deemed to be approachable like in the scenarios above are respected by the Coaches and the Players. Tim Donaghy alluded to it in reference to Allen Iverson. Jason Thompson would save himself at least one foul per game by owning most of the fouls he commits or ask what the Official saw versus yell that the Official missed it in disgust. While I agree with most on StR that Shock gets few calls that could go either way, he hurts his own cause.

While the NBA will post to the public the Rules, the public is not privy to the Official Manual for NBA Officials which encompasses, Mechanics, philosophy or control. Just trust that there is not a lot that the Officials can affect and there is valid reasons why Vegas, Coaches and Players are not notified of who their officials are well in advance of the games.

In conclusion:   While NBA Officials have egos and sometimes screw up a play the rarely screw up a game and should not be considered the bane of our frustration with The Brand. Furthermore with a little broader perspective and a more objective analysis of the game as a whole there should be a general sense of calm and peace that the whole world is stacked against us--just merely the NBA.