NBA Players/Coaches Vote on the Best (and Worst) Officials

Seniority rules.

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The key to squeezing the truth out of anyone is waterboarding giving them anonymity. And so if you want to hear what NBA players and coaches truly think of the league's officials you have to grant them that. The Los Angeles Times polled almost three dozen players and coaches in an effort to get to the bottom of the league's best and worst refs, and what came out was a result that indicates seniority and experience rule, and also gave us a lot of interesting quotes.

Of the 64 zebras in the league the top three were: 

1.) Danny Crawford (Who's been in the league 31 years) - 30 Votes
2.) Joey Crawford (Pictured above, who's retiring this year after 39 seasons in the league) - 25 Votes
3.) Monty McCutchen (Who's been in the league 23 years) - 13 Votes

Players appreciate the fact that Danny Crawford is both firm and approachable, rare attributes for an older--uh--ref, with one player saying:

"He's been in the league for a long time and a lot of guys respect him. You won't get cheated by him. Now does he make mistakes? Yes. I like it where he'll tell a star to shut up. At the same time, he knows there is a pecking order and he gives certain players more respect than others. A lot of the new refs are terrible and the old refs won't speak to you. But Danny gives you a happy medium."

Another player chimed in:

"Danny is good because he'll talk to you. He doesn't take it personal if you question him, as long as you're not tripping or your tone is not all messed up. If you're asking a question, even if you're questioning his call, he doesn't take it like it's an affront to his manhood. He might tell you some stuff like, 'You're wrong.' But he'll treat you like a man, like a human being."

As for Joey Crawford, the league's flamboyant and most recognizable ref, a nameless head coach had this to say:

"Once upon a time, you couldn't talk to Joey. He's cleaned that up — big time. He runs it when he's on the floor now. For me, that's big. I don't care if it's at home or on the road, he's not going to get intimidated by the crowd. To me, that's big with officials. You have guys that are homers, where the home crowd can sway them. But not Joey."

Added an anonymous player, who was likely not Tim Duncan:

"There's no nonsense when Joey is doing stuff. When Joey says, 'Ya'll been warned,' everybody stops."

McCutchen reached similar levels of respect as the two unrelated Crawfords. One assistant coach praised his truthfulness:

"There was a game against us where he missed the call and during a timeout, he was like, 'Yeah, when I watch that one back, I'm probably going to want to slap myself.' That's cool. You're going to miss a call and we're going to mess up coaching. You just own to what you do, and Monty does that."

In contrast, the three crappiest refs named were:

1.) Scott Foster (Who's been in the league a way-too-high-to-be-on-this-end-of-the-list 22 years) - 24 Votes
2.) Lauren Holtkamp (In her second year) - 14 Votes
3.) Marc Davis (In his 18th year) - 12 Votes

On Foster, the league's most loathed, a veteran told the Times

"He had one of our playoff games and as soon as he walked in, I was like, 'This game is over.' We all knew we were going to get bad calls, and we did. You couldn't say anything to him. Hell, I don't think you could even look at him."

A different conspiracy-minded player expanded upon that, saying:

"You can't talk to him. He's never wrong. I like refs where they say, 'You know what, I made a mistake. I saw it at halftime. You were right.' But Scott Foster thinks he never makes a mistake. The players see the stats of how he is on the road. He always helps the road team out. He loves to stick it to teams."

Holtkamp, who found herself in the midst of a controversy around this time last year after some postgame comments from Chris Paul, is also viewed unfavorably. You can certainly create your own theories, but one baller insisted it had nothing to do with the fact that she's a woman, and everything to do with the fact that she's green:

"Take the female part aside, she's just new. But with her, I thought she took it a little bit personal, thinking players talk to her the wrong way. When you're young, like an NBA player or a ref, you've got to come in seeking knowledge. You can't come in blowing the whistle. She came in like, 'I'm a female and you're not going to talk a certain way to me.' No one called her a bad name. No one disrespected her. It's her terrible calls."

A head coach was far more succinct:

"She's got no feel for the game and she's terrible."

Finally there's Davis, who's disliked by at least one player for his supposed self-importance:

"He's cool as they come, but he's so arrogant. He instigates things sometimes. Marc will go back at a player. He forgets that he's talking to another man. Don't challenge a man's manhood. Now you are going too far."

Whether you detest certain refs, or view them as interchangeable, it's certainly interesting to hear the opinions of the players and coaches sharing the floor with them. Definitely something to keep an eye out for the next time they're running a game you're actually emotionally (or monetarily) invested in.

[via LA Times]

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