With the game- and potentially the greatest playoff series played in the past five years- on the line in Oklahoma City last night, the professionals did what they do best.
Well, at least Joey Crawford did what he does best- steal the spotlight in the most obtrusive way possible. As written in our article here, Crawford had to stop play to correct a mistake on the scoreboard, however, he technically should not have interrupted a free throw to do so.
As they taught us on the first day of “ref school” (a.k.a six sessions to prepare you for the 50 question test to get certified as a basketball ref), once the ball is in the hands of a free thrower, it is live. The exact language reads:
“When a free throw is awarded, an official shall put the ball in play by placing it at the disposal of the free throw shooter”
PUT THE BALL IN PLAY, meaning teams can’t make substitutions, players can’t switch positions in the lane, and crazy, bald little refs can’t interrupt the motion.
Now, unlike many NBA fans, I believe Joey Crawford to be a great ref. He’s one of the few officials that seems completely unbiased based on a player’s “superstar status,” and sometimes gets so excited about getting a block/charge call right that he does this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdMMYz0fKpI
His antics and no-nonsense attitude are entertaining, but as we saw when he ejected Tim Duncan for laughing, and apparently tossed Kenyon Martin for a reach-in foul (1:53 mark below), he clearly can go to far.
http://youtu.be/zjVCkSR7i1o?t=1m53s
As a result of the incident with Duncan, Crawford missed the rest of the 2006-07 season and playoffs, ending a streak of 21 consecutive NBA Finals appearances. I don’t expect the NBA to reprimand him for trying to fix a correctable error in the middle of a players’ free throw, but unfortunately his decision not to wait for the ball to go in, or to call an officials’ timeout after a rebound was controlled to fix the minor scoreboard error overshadows yet another outstanding game between these evenly matched teams.
This series just set a record with a fourth consecutive game decided in overtime, Russell Westbrook became the first player since Oscar Robertson to post at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assists in a playoff game, and the likely regular-season MVP, Kevin Durant, now has both Tony Allen and Joey Crawford to blame for “getting in his head.”
We’re not even talking about how Durant took a 30-footer with 2.9 seconds left and his team down by one, or how Mike Miller is a cold-blooded killer from long-range. Nope, instead of talking about how professional athletes are performing, we’re discussing referee rules. Thanks for that, Joey.
