HEAT is hated throughout the League!

I personally do not hate the Heat. I am a big fan of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, but recently they've been a big disappointment. During the summer everyone hated them after LeBron signed with them, but they got the nickname "Goliath" for their star power. Today, this team is nothing compared to what the summer hype was. I mean the Celtics took them out with ease and the record of 9-8 isn't that good. They are currently in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. The Washington Post is where I read this article and if your curious I suggest you read it: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/29/haters-rejoice-heat-struggles-delighting-many/. Yeah it is a bad start for the Heat and something no one really expected. I mean recently LeBron had a court scandal with his coach, where he bugged his coach with his shoulder. This is not the first time he has done this and I think he is trying to send a message. I also heard rumours that he wants Pat Riley to coach instead of Eric Spolestra. Boy oh boy does he Heat have a lot of drama on their hands. What do you guys think about it?

LeBron James is going to play at Cleveland in December!

Wow when I heard this I was shocked that this would happen so soon. Yes, King James is going to return back to Cleveland to play against the team he had left. The game will be played on December 2nd and boy it will be exciting. The Heat are already planning security measures for the arena and the Cavaliers kinda. Mostly the Heat though because LeBron is going into a very hostile territory. He personally said that he will have a lot of people booing him (Cavaliers stadium holds 20,000 people). Officials have told the fans to not wear shirts with bad language towards LeBron, but if you keep it PG you have a full go. I am personally excited because since his move I always wanted to see him play against his old team. Each team will definitely go with full power and hopefully no casualties will occur. It is interesting to see James reaction when he plays that day. Everyone probably is wondering about that right now. What do you guys think will happen on December 2nd? The league is going to earn a lot of money off that game for sure due to it being a big game. I am also sure it will be filled with all of the Cavaliers fans. It will definitely be a wrong night to cheer for LeBron and I wonder how many LeBron fans will attend.

Michael Jordan: His records!

So in this post I decided to talk about the records set by MJ. As you all may know this man loved to score points. He just had a God given talent to score. At one point the Celtics great Larry Bird once said that God dressed up as MJ and play basketball. I mean that is a very high remark to make and since he is a great a lot of people listen to him. Today MJ holds the highest season point average of 30 points. That is an incredible feat because that is crazy. You have to score 30 or more points a game. In playoffs he owns the highest point percentage also and it is 33 points. He is just to awesome in my opinion. Also in the 1991-1993 Finals he is the only player to own three MVP's in a row. He made history people and thats is awesome. During his time all of his games in or out of town were sold out. THAT IS REALLY COOL! They said he got $30 million alone from game tickets and other endorsements. I think the NBA commissioner and other members must have been crying when he left the game. He also owns the record of the only 40 year old player to score over 40+ points. That is incredible because he played with the Wizards for two years. During one of the seasons he was turned 40. He is full achievements that I probably do not know about. But all of his achievements where engraved into a stone next to the Bulls arena in Chicago. So if you guys are curious I suggest you visit Chicago.

What did MJ inspire modern players to do? Nothing!

So I read this article recently that said that MJ inspired everyone with his trick shots, amazing slam dunks, and three point attempts. The author also says that he inspired the modern generation of basketball players to play alone. What I mean by alone is that he not knowingly showed the at the time young kids that scoring alone was cool and these guys grew up to be basketball players. Well I mean now a days you see one player get 30 points and others are just there to back up him up. But when that player does not have a ball he is worthless. In most occasions, he doesn't set up screens but rather demands the ball. THAT IS NOT WHAT BASKETBALL IS! IT IS A TEAM SPORT! Look at LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant all they do is play alone. Each has a crew that backs them up. But Jordan did not do so, I mean he scored thats a fact, but he also tried to help out his teammates. He set up screens, passed the ball, and a was a true team player. But today the only team I see that has each teammate helping out are the Boston Celtics. It is true because each member helps the other and that makes them a tough team to play. That is because each player has to be defended carefully. So even though MJ did not intend to inspire people like that he did. Today everyone heres the phrase "I want to be like Mike".

MJ comments on his video game!

So I found this article that talks about Michael Jordan commenting on his own video game called 2K11. It is not exactly about him, but rather their is a big emphasize on him. He is on the fron cover with his red Bulls 23 jersey. In the game you are able to replay all his greatest moments throughout his EPIC career. You can replay the "Shot" that Jordan made in his last game with the Bulls. Score 60+ points against the Celtics in a playoff game. Another cool feature in the game is that you can sign Jordan to any modern teams in the NBA. I think that is so cool because who would not want to have Jordan play for the Celtics, Miami, and maybe the Lakers (not so much for me). So he is like awesome in that game. I had an opportunity to play the game once and I played one of the Jordan challenges and I had a lot of fun. I mean how big of a player do you have to be to have a game made in your name and have your own special challenges based on your achievements. Well I guess you have to be Michael Jordan. Well this article says that Jordan says that if he would play today it would be a different game. He said that today its less physical and that if he played he would either foul out (he is really physical) or he would just score 100 points with the help of the free throw line. That is so cool and I would agree with him on that.

MJ impacted the League in many ways!

His Airness was the best in his game during his career in the NBA. He won six Championships and that could have been eight but due to Jordan leaving to play baseball for two years he missed. The Bulls suffered greatly without the their leader. But through out the time he had played in the league everyone was excited to see him play and do his signatures moves, especially the dunks. Today dunks are not what they were 10 or even 15 years back. They were the ultimate skill a NBA player had. It was also cool and fun to watch. Jordan was a incredible player who brought the NBA ratings up with his amazing skills. He was the best during his time and no one was close to him. Before him came Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, before them Wilt Chamberlain. I mean this guy was in his own league no one to challenge or stop him. In an article I read recently the author said if you think about this as literature, Jordan did not have any antagonists through his career. He led the Bulls to a 72 season game wins in 1996, which is the highest any team has gotten. THE JORDAN FACTOR! In December 1997 in a magazine called the Sporting News, Jordan was named the most powerful person in sports. That is quite amazing. When Jordan announced his retirement in January 13, 1999, the owner of the Bulls, Jerry Reinsdorf, said that they might as well retire all of the 23 jerseys in the league. I mean this is how he impacted the game he loved. Arguably, no one from the modern league has come close to this man. I can further argue that he is the best in the NBA history and that his legacy has forever impacted the NBA.

NBA/MJ

Tonight at 8pm the Celtics and the Heat will play once again since the season opener. I am really excited and everyone should. I am definitely rooting for the Celtics. It will be a tough game because the Heat needs to redeem themselves from a tough loss from the previous game. The Heat lost 116 to 114 in overtime and it was a shock to everyone because the were leading by 20+ in the 2nd quarter. Miami's team has not lived up to the standards it supposedly would make this season. All went down when the Celtics beat them in the season opener. The game is going to be in Miami and that could give the Heat a crowd boost. The Celtics will be under a lot of pressure down in Miami. Hopefully they can all pull through and win.

Now lets get back to Michael Jordan. Since he has retired and that was a long time ago. More precisely 2003 after playing with the Wizards. After that he was mostly associated with playing golf and all. But back in 2006, he bought majority of the stocks of the Charlotte Bobcats and he is second to the owner of the team.

Air Jordan

Hey you all probably seen people wearing clothes, shoes, and maybe even wearing backpacks that have a a guy in mid air with a ball doing a dunk. Well this logo first of all is called the Jumpman and it is a representation of Michael Jordan. This is pretty much his subsidiary company that was started in 1985. It was back then that Jordan got a new shoe from NIKE that was banned to be used by the NBA. He was really lucky because the fines were paid by NIKE because of this the shoe got a lot of publicity. Eventually the league allowed the shoe to be used by players and MJ. That is incredibly cool when you have your company and a shoe named after you. I find really amazing. Besides that this company has produced a lot of shoes. They have many lines of apparel and they are Originals, Retro, Retro-Pluses, Player Exclusives, and Samples. The original shoe that MJ wore back in the day is still produced with 90+ different color variations. THAT IS AMAZING! I kind of want to get the shoe myself now. The company has its own team of all star players. They are called Team Jordan. This group has such modern greats as Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Ray Allen, and Dwyane Wade (current face of the company). So this is for today enjoy!

MJ Part II

As you all may know Michael Jordan had a great career with the Chicago Bulls. He led them to six NBA Championship titles. That is still incredible even though I mentioned this before. In an article I read the author said that after Jordan made the 1989 "Shot" over Craig Ehlo in Game 5 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, he became a Jordan fan. People say that it was fun watching this man play on the court. To some it was incredible at how athletic he was, while some disliked him (other players). He pretty much stole the spotlight during the 90's. He was the star that is remembered by everyone today. This guy actually retired in '93 to play baseball. He did this because he wanted to commemorate the memory of his father. His father was killed by an unknown assailant, and to this day it is unknown who shot him. Jordan's father wanted to him to play baseball, and that is exactly what he did. Everyone was astonished at his decision and some were disappointed that such a star would leave the game. Jordan returned two years later from retirement and was able to continue to dominate the court. After all he is Michael Jordan.

How do we remember MJ today?

Michael Jordan is my personal basketball hero. It is not LeBron or Kobe, it will always be Michael Jordan. Sadly I was not born when this man played, but I have watched those famous games and his greatest moments. To me that is incredible that I like a player so much that I have never witnessed play. I am not the only one in the world who loves Air Jordan. This man is remembered by his Air Jordan brand, his achievements in the game, and recently by a video game. This video game came out in 2010 and actually about a month ago now. This is the first game with Michael Jordan. Recently it has been said to be the most hyped up basketball video game. It was promoted highly and Kobe Bryant even endorsed it. In this game you can replay the greatest Jordan moments. You can even sign Jordan to the current basketball teams. This games is really popular now and is currently a best seller. The Jordan brand is doing well with its shoes, clothes and other apparels. His famous moments go back to the shot that cost the Utah Jazz to lose the Championship. The fowl line slam dunk that he made during an the All-Star Slam Dunk contest. 

MJ the Greatest Player in the NBA

Everyone knows the name of this arguably greatest NBA player. He was like a God on the court when he played. People loved him not only in the USA but around the world. He had many nicknames throughout his great career, but his two most famous names everyone knows, His Airness or Air Jordan. This man was incredible with his on court skills. He has six NBA Championship rings and five time MVP. That is incredible because this same man renewed the interest of people to watch basketball. He retired from the sport with the highest points per game average of 30.1. Everyone knows that this is incredible because he was and still is the greatest player in the NBA history. Surly people can argue that their were great people before him and after him. Yet when ever we think of basketball MJ pops up in our minds. That is the mark he left in the NBA.

For my I-Search paper, I have decided to find out how this great man made the NBA popular to the USA and the rest of the world. I will focus on his impact on the sport, his legacy, his contributions to the league, and how he promoted the game to the world. Hope you enjoy.

LeBron regrets they way he presented the decision.

On Sunday, LeBron James and the Heat played at the New Jersey Nets. This team was one of the lucky few who wanted Mr. James play for their team. The moment he had touch the ball in the game people would boo him. Before the game LeBron said that he would love to change the way he presented his decision to move to South Beach. No one denies that the way he presented his move to the Heat played a big role in the hatred that accumulated this season. He did not specify any details of what he would like to change, but that is good that he realizes his mistake. I think he will not have a great time when he plays against the Cleveland Cavaliers, his old team, because he is gonna get booed and definitely stuff thrown at him. As you all may know that James was offered around $120 million dollars to play once again for the Cavaliers, but instead he left to Miami for $90 million in hopes of finally getting his Championship trophy. Well good luck to him, but the current champions, Lakers, will definitely make it hell in order for them to even get to the Finals. Lets not forget the Celtics who are the current Eastern Conference Champions and who have beat the Heat on the opening day. This is going to be a heck of a season.

Did the NBA kill the opening week?

Recently some people have noticed that the opening week of the NBA was like no other. Thanks to the newly formed Miami Heat people were pretty much glued to their tv's or watching the game live at a stadium. Everyone was pumped that the Heat will finally play. Others were pumped about seeing John Wall, the number one draft pick this year to play with the Wizards. A lot of hype was accumulated throughout the summer. And what does the league do? They put the most hyped teams against the NBA's best. Heat was supposed to take on the Celtics for the season opener and the Wizards led by John Wall go against the Orlando Magic. So for the first match up it was already known Celtics would win. The Celtics have an impressive record against this team. I mean last year in the playoffs they shut this team down and LeBron did not stop them from doing that again. So the league messed up this matchup because they should have gave the Heat an easy start, you know make them feel good about themselves. But hey its to late now, because the Celtics pretty much put a how to guide for taking down the Heat. For the Wizards playing Orlando is a joke. Dwight Howard is a two time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and the league decided to put him against John Wall. Howard is like a rejecting machine and it is ridiculous to think that Wizards had any chance to win. Orlando won 112-83 and once again the league messed up with the match ups. I mean peoples interest disappears after two weeks and the league knows it. So why did they not exploit their resources to keep people glued to the tv's? Well we certainly do not know now but all we do know is that the league messed up big time.

Rondo stops wearing a headband

So we are all used to seeing players with headbands, but if some look carefully they can spot that some headbands have the NBA logo upside down. Now this is sort of like a fashion statement in the NBA. So a decade ago the headband was coming back to its use in the NBA and the league decided that it wanted to have all of its players were headbands with the NBA logo. So the trick was that you could only wear the headband with logo, or else you get fined. That sounds so ridiculous and it truly is. So Rasheed Wallace decided to stick to the man, and wore his band inside out. It went well for some time until he got fined and altogether stopped. Now lets get back to Rondo. He started his upside down trend in 2007 and from there it spread. The players who wore the headband like that were J.R. Smith, Chris Wilcox, Marcus Williams, Mikki Moore, and Ben Wallace. So now the league has instated a rule that says no more upside down headbands, and guess what Rondo stopped wearing a headband altogether. During the season opener against the Heat, Rajon Rondo was without a headband. Actually he has not worn a headband since the beginning of the season. So this shows how the NBA wants to have total control in the league.

NBA is hoping to expand to EUROPE

So on October 29, David Stern the Head Commissioner of the NBA has stated that he is hoping that in 10 years the league will have a counter part in Europe. This idea is not new because David Stern has said the same thing ten years ago. Currently there are two teams that have regular season games in Europe: Raptors and Nets in London. The Commissioner envisions that Miami Heat will play the Celtics on a certain day, then they would fly off to Paris. There they would do some shopping play the teams in the European NBA and go back home. Also the Commissioner is hoping to establish five teams in Europe. So far one player has stated that this is not a good idea because it is hard to travel from USA to Europe. This player is Marcin Gortat from the Orlando Magic. When you think about it is kind of a hard thing to do because you will definitely be jet lagged. David Stern has stated that the NBA's revenue in the USA is not that good because 57% goes to the players. He also said that if they wanted to increase their revenue they would lose money.

NBA NeWs

On Friday October 22, the pre-season game between the Orlando and Heat was cancelled because of slippery floor. The floor was found slippery when arena officials found that a solution with oil was applied to the floor. This does not happen a lot but it definitely was not expected as people were waiting to watch this game. I mean I was one of those people who was watching TV and waiting for the game and then this announcement came up. The Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy said that they should go to an outside court instead. The league said it would refund people for paying tickets and their were some people who flew in from Dallas, TX and Albany, NY. Hope they get refunded because they spent quite an amount of money to come and see the game.

Our own player of the Celtics, Rajon Rondo has stated that he is preparing to save money if the cut of salary would happen. Rondo is supposed to receive $9 million this season, but that can all change next year when salary cuts will be made. I am glad that he is preparing for this salary cut. Everyone in the league should do so because that is smart. I mean we dont how much money this guys are going to lose from the cut and its better to be prepared then wait till the cut hits your pocket.

This is it for the news that have been floating around the NBA. More developments will be told when they happen.

NBA Players are about to lose some cash

So last Thursday, NBA commissioner David Stern stated that the league would cut the player salaries by a third because it is not profitable. The NBA says that it spends to much on the player salaries and their benefits, it comes out to $2.3 billion. Thats a lot of money but I dont know if the players will be agreeing to this salary cut. The league hopes to cut down costs by $750 to $800 million. The thing that will probably be a road block to this idea would be the owners of teams. An estimate was made that states that owners would lose $340-350 million this season alone. Even though this season had the biggest ticket sales in a while the league will still go through with this new plan. I personally think that the NBA players will be totally against this because for example a player with a pay of $120 million will get paid $80 million, I mean that is not bad but for some players that would end up being bad. This was all in talk during summer between the league and the NBA team owners but Stern has finally decided to finally bring this new idea to the public. So we will see eventually what happend with this new proposed idea, but right now it is known that this budget change must happen. See you guys later and until the next time I write a blog. Good day.

To Good of a Pair to Wear!

Hey everyone sorry I have not been keeping up with my blog duties. Well this week I got the perfect news for you guys. The NBA Commissioner David J. Stern announced yesterday that a pair of basketball shoes under the brand name Athletic Propulsion Lab. The name of this outlawed shoe is Concept 1. So we won't be seeing this shoe during this season. The reason this shoe is illegal in NBA because it supposedly lets the basketball player to jump higher with the new Load N' Launch feature. So there is a sort of launch pad type of thing in the forefront of the shoe. So when you jump it boosts your height and you can dunk easier. Now everyone is a bit disappointed with this because its is only a shoe. But the NBA keeps stating it has unfair advantages. Let me remind you that this is not the first time a shoe was banned in the NBA. Michael Jordan had one of his Nike shoes banned 25 years ago. But back then people were not offended by it enhancing abilities, but rather its new design and color. This is only illegal in the NBA and so anyone outside of the league can buy the shoe. It has hefty price of $300 but on the positive side you will soar to the basketball hoop or at least get near it. It all depends on your height and jumping abilities. This is it for today, tune back tomorrow. Have a great day!

Miami Heat is Considered to be an All Star Team

Not a lot has been happening on the referee front and so for now I decided to talk about whats been happening in the league. Lately the most talked thing was the Miami Heat. Everyone considers them to be a dominant team in the NBA now due to them acquiring LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Some say they represent Goliath now. Yet so far as I watched this team they have done an excellent job on the court, but there star player got a injury on the first preseason game. That kind makes me want to rethink about their status. Also last night LeBron James got a cramp and had to leave the game. I mean two injuries already and everyone is supposed to fear this team. Well the first game of the season is between the Celtics and the Heat. Hopefully, the Celtics will not be intimidated and send back this team to South Beach. Also everyone is saying that this team will most definitely make it to the Finals. Amid all this talking about the Miami Heat everyone is forgetting the champs of last year, LA Lakers. I mean will the Heat possibly be able to fight off the 2 consecutive years champs. So far I dont think so because this team doesn't have enough experience. I also think the Celtics will definitely out do this team in the season opener, because they just have so much experience. In the end, this team has been hyped up to much and the season will show if anything said will come true.

Info on Refs is Hard to Find!

Lately there have not been a lot of news about the refs in the league. It might be because it is still the preseason. But for now I will talk about what is happening with the Celtics since I am out of info on the refs. As you all may know Shaq has joined the Celtics. It was said today that he will be sitting in Harvard Square in order for his fans to be able to get a picture with him. He said he will just act like a statue. He won't move and he said that he won't talk since he is a statue. That sounds really cool and kind of creative. The time has not been given but he said that he will do that for an hour. So you should check that out. So far the Celtics are 2 for 2 in the preseason. That kind of shows how motivated they are to go back to the Finals and take down the LA Lakers. Lets hope this year the Celtics will be able to take home the trophy and have 19 Final wins. Hopefully the Miami Heat will not be as good as they are being hyped. 

This has been it for this week. Hopefully new info and news will be out by next week. But for now this is all I have got for you this week. Sorry for this font and everything my computer is malfunctioning. Hope you will be able to read all of this. 

Two Players Ejected For Patting Each Other

On Thursday, two players were ejected from a game between the Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns. The players were Grant Hill and Reggie Evans. The reason they got kicked out was because each patted the others butt. This may sound ridiculous that such a thing would get players kicked out but hey it did happen and a lot of people were laughing at this. Referee Bill Kennedy was the one who called for the ejection. Oh boy did people boo him when he did that. This call makes no sense at all. Some speculate that he may have over reacted a bit, maybe a lot. Well when the players were walking of people were cheering for them and at the same time booing the ref. One might wonder is this what the power of refs come to. I mean a little thing like that can cause to get ejected from a game. The players will also have to pay a price for this technical foul as it is called. The players in the league will probably refrain from patting other peoples butts as it a gesture in sports. This incident has shown us that some refs abuse their powers.

Also people say that Bill Kennedy is quick with his own calls but the call he made outdid his abilities. I mean people are already calling this the worst ejection of the preseason. I mean we haven't even got to the real season yet. In the end I hope that such calls won't be called during the regular season, because it will make the games boring.

New harsh laws in the NBA!

Recently people have found out that a a ref now has full rights to give out technicals, if he feels like a player is not happy with what ever happened on the court. So lets say a player tries to show his anger by going at the ref, bam he gets a technical. How about if he turns around and waves at air in frustration, bam he just gets a technical. Any sign of the person trying to go against the call results in him having a technical, I guess this might make the game harder for the players. They have to be more balanced now in order to not get a technical.

Another recent news is that the NBA is increasing the amount of money you pay for a technical. So the way it will go this year is that first five technicals of a player or a coach will result in a $2000 pay. If a player or coach goes beyond the five technical calls he will pay $3000 for the next five. If that continues the pay would rise to $4000 for the next five technical calls. When a player or coach reaches 16 technical calls, they will have to pay $5000 and get suspended for one game. After that if he gets two more technicals he will once again be suspended and pay $5000. All the money that is collected from the technical fouls goes to the NBA charity. I guess it is a good cause, yet I think the price for a technical is just to high.

All of this has been done in order to make the refs have more control over the game.

The Controversial Game 7 of NBA Finals

During the last years NBA Finals, the league had posted its most controversial referees on these games. They were Joey Crawford, Bill Kennedy, and Bennet Salvatore. They are all thought to be controversial because both sides thought that the refs hated each team (LA Lakers and Boston Celtics). Any Boston Celtics fan can tell you how much they think Bill Kennedy has got it for their team. During last years season he had kicked out Rasheed Wallace in a game against the Seventy Sixers in December. He has also kicked out the head coach of the Celtics, Doc Rivers. Bennet Salvatore is a hated guy between both of these teams. Phil Jackson has made rude comments about this ref and he was fined accordingly. Joey Crawford is a very inpatient ref, in the past he had some bad blood with the superstar of San Antonio Spurs, Tim Duncan. Yet during the 2010 NBA Finals, he had kept a clean game and nothing bad had stuck with him. From this I can conclude that even though people consider last years finals controversial they all might be just finding comfort in blaming the most hated referees in the league. I think because of the fact that three hated referees were refereeing may have caused people to think the games were rigged or unfairly ruled. In the end, this is a tough sport to ref and some of the calls were beyond the refs ability to for see or call rightly. Also, we as humans always like to put a blame on someone else when things don't go our way. 

More Info on the Refs

Recently I have found out that there 59 referees working in the National Basketball Association. That is a huge number if one thinks about it. Comparing it to 30 referees in FIFA. Another interesting thing is that during a half time in a regular NBA basketball game the refs also take rest where they discuss the first half. They think of any better way to referee the game in a clean way. Besides that every referee is responsible for paying his own flight ticket to the city where his next game is planned to be. I find that a bit strange, since it is there job and shouldn't the company pay for them? 

Any new thing in the league that has been put forward last year is that refs referee in teams. Some people have been noticing that certain referees have been refereeing together for couple of games consecutively. Well the idea of this is that a group of refs is formed if they live close to each other. The league believes this might help out with refs being able to make better bonds and make better decisions on the basketball court. Another thing that I have frequently heard from my friends is that some games are more important then others and they need much more experienced refs. Well that is not true, on some occasions it happens that a group of experienced refs are refereeing a game together, but that is just scheduling or in some cases the inability of ref to arrive at the game, due to that he is replaced. 

Referees in the NBA

Ever wonder how important a referee is during a game of basketball? It's not on the mind usually as one watches a basketball game. Yet in real life the referees have a tough job that requires athleticism and a lot of knowledge of basketball. In some occasions, a ref is not on the good side of fans because they may call a call that should not have been called or they set back the favorite team. Yet it is their job to call fouls, penalties, and so on. Most people ignore this and most of the time blame everything on refs. For example, during the last years NBA Championship Finals when Celtics lost to the Lakers, a lot of people were disappointed with the way refs dealt with that game. They were doing there job and it was not their fault. Being a ref is a hard job in a game such as basketball because it is a very fast sport and sometimes calls aren't called while sometimes wrong calls are called. 

Refereeing is a full time job. Usually refs have three games in a week. During that time they can travel to LA, Boston, or even Miami. So these guys are always on the move. During a game there are usually either two or three refs. The equipment of a usual ref is a whistle to halt the game when needed too, a uniform with an NBA logo,etc. Every referee has to know hand signals that are commonly used in officiating. It is a hard job to become a ref in the NBA, because a ref has to have a lot of prior experience in officiating in basketball games. His experience should revolve around YMCA's, high schools, college level games, and some lower league NBA games. When the ref becomes more experienced he is able to start refereeing in the big league.