There is no way around it: David Stern’s iron-fisted approach to discipline on the court is going to have to include Joey Crawford.
I’ve seen Crawford, the notoriously hotheaded ref, do some strange things. He doled out four technical fouls in the first 10 minutes of Game 2 in the 2003 Western Conference Finals, for one. Crawford also did something I’d never seen at an NBA game when he ejected a fan from Continental Airlines Arena during a Nets-Mavericks game on Dec. 5.
But more on those instances later. Crawford’s latest transgression, ejecting two-time league MVP Tim Duncan for laughing on the bench during the Spurs’ game against Dallas on Sunday, takes the cake for absurdity.
Duncan was relegated to the bench late in the third quarter Sunday after getting technical No. 1 from Crawford for arguing a call. Barely a minute later, Duncan burst out in laughter, stomped his feet, clapped his hands, and wiped his face with a towel when Crawford called teammate Fabricio Oberto for a shooting foul on Josh Howard with 1:04 left in the third.
Crawford pointed to Duncan on the bench, teed him up, and signaled for him to leave the floor with the automatic ejection that comes with a second technical. Teammates Tony Parker and Robert Horry looked at Crawford with open-mouthed astonishment.
Here is where it gets interesting: Duncan claimed afterward that Crawford has a “personal vendetta” against him, and said Crawford barked at him after the ejection, “Do you want to fight?” While Duncan claims he said nothing to Crawford other than, “I got fouled on that shot,” which earned him the first technical, Crawford claimed Duncan called him an expletive as he walked off the court.
Here’s reaction from Duncan and Crawford in the AP account of the game, including a video clip. More video here.
The league was still reviewing the matter today, and should have no trouble doing so. I'm told that Crawford was wearing a microphone during the game, won by Dallas, 91-86.
UPDATE: Ronnie Nunn, the NBA's director of officials, was at the Nets-Knicks game at the Garden last night. So I asked him his take on the Crawford situation. Nunn said it was too early to comment, but that the punishments could come down today. He said Crawford was the crew chief in Sunday's game and, as such, was wired with a microphone.
The San Antonio Express-News reported today that, while league officials interviewed Duncan about the matter, Stern appears to be focused on Crawford's actions.
Although it was only the second ejection of Duncan’s nine-year career, he’s known as a subtle whiner who gets under the skin of officials and opponents without drawing too much attention to himself. In this case, he was certainly drawing attention to himself on the bench, and showing up Crawford.
For that reason, I expect Stern and the NBA’s vice president of basketball operations, Stu Jackson, to hit Duncan with a fine. But with the playoffs only a few days away – and the outcome of playoff games at least to some extent in the hands of the officials – Stern must come down hard on Crawford, too.
Clearly, this is a commissioner who is not afraid to make an example out of a star player, as he did by suspending Carmelo Anthony for 15 games for his role in the December brawl between the Knicks and Nuggets at the Garden. Although the circumstances are far different – nobody got hurt – Stern must apply the same standard to Crawford, who obviously thinks he has become a star official.
Rule No. 1 for officials in any sport is not to be noticed. Crawford, a 31-year NBA veteran who according to ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan has officiated 38 NBA Finals games among his 2,000-plus career total, has put himself in the spotlight one too many times.
According to Sheridan, the patron saint of NBA controversies, Crawford was chewed out by Stern after he made himself the story with the flurry of technicals in the Western Conference Finals game mentioned earlier. Crawford apparently was told that if he made himself the story again, the punishment would be severe.
I was at the Nets-Mavericks game on Dec. 5 when Crawford ejected a 20-year season ticker-holder who was sitting in the second row behind the basket. On his way out of the building, the fan told me he’d been griping at Crawford to make a three-second call. Crawford told him if he said it one more time, he’d be ejected. The fan responded, “Three seconds!” and Crawford motioned for security to eject him.
The security guards paused for a moment and looked at Crawford with puzzled expressions, clearly wondering, “Are we allowed to do this?”
Crawford also officiated Game 5 of last year’s NBA Finals, when Dallas owner Mark Cuban believed Dwyane Wade should have been called for a backcourt violation prior to hitting the game-winning free throws in a 101-100 overtime victory. Cuban was fined $250,000 for “several acts of misconduct.”
Today, Cuban wrote on his blog that he’s not commenting on Crawford’s current situation. In fact, talking about officials is so off-limits in the NBA that Knicks coach Isiah Thomas stopped me in my tracks when I asked him about Crawford tonight before the Knicks played the Nets.
“Are you kidding me?” Thomas said. “No, I’m serious. I would never answer that question.”
“No, but …” I said.
“No but, my ass,” Thomas said. “I’m not going there.”
I’ll comment for him: If Stern wants to make a statement that his playoffs, and ultimately his Finals, will not be affected by the short temper of an official, then he should hand out a suspension for Crawford tomorrow to go along with Duncan’s fine.
It would not only be fair, but well deserved – and a long time coming.