This past weekend, during Game 3 of the Jazz-Lakers series, a friend text messaged me saying “Joey Crawford and Dick Bavetta are reffing. I’d bet a million dollars on the Jazz winning tonight.” And, of course, the Lakers wound up winning.
Cavs-Celtics: Who’s Excited For The Joey Crawford Experience Tonight?!
↵See? The NBA’s not rigged, after all!
↵‘Course, there was that play at the end of the game, with L.A. leading by one, where Utah basically tackled Derek Fisher and the refs swallowed their whistle, giving Utah one last chance to win. Utah missed and L.A. won, but yeah, that definitely happened (video at 3:03).
↵What’s the point here? Why, funny you should ask... Joey Crawford is also the lead official for tonight’s crucial Game 5 in Cleveland. The same Joey Crawford that was lead ref on the crew that missed that blatant call in the Utah game.
↵Not to go all Tim-Donaghy-conspiracy-theorist on you, but this detail might become relevant.
↵Because bad referees tend to be the ones most likely to be swayed by home crowds. And Cleveland has a home crowd for tonight’s crucial game. With the series tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 goes on to win the series 83% of the time in the NBA. Now, is Joey Crawford a bad official? Here’s exhibit A, from two weeks ago:
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↵Hopefully I’m wrong, but it reminds me of what Chuck Klosterman once wrote:
↵↵“Everyone who loves pro basketball assumes it’s a little fixed. ... The outcomes of games aren’t predeteremined or scripted but there are definitely dark forces who play with our reality. There are faceless puppet masters who pull strings and manipulate the purity of justice. It’s not necessarily a full-on conspiracy, but it’s certainly not fair. And that’s why the NBA remains the only game that matters: Pro basketball is exactly like life.”
↵↵The NBA can’t fix games, and nobody’s suggesting they’re trying. But can the League assign crappy officials to a must-win game 5 to “inadvertently” give an advantage to Cleveland, and the league’s premier superstar? Manipulate the purity of justice a little bit? Maybe?
↵One day, David Stern will wake up, and these stupid, open-ended questions will become a thing of the past. But until Stern and the NBA acknowledges fans as are asking them and adjusts accordingly, they’ll persist. Here’s to hoping we’re not talking about Joey Crawford tomorrow morning...
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