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.