Joe Crawford needs to check back into Anger Management

I'm sure by now, you have seen the video or heard the story of what happened to Tim Duncan during yesterday's Spurs/Mavs showdown in Dallas. Personally I do believe that Tim Duncan is one of the many guys in the NBA who frequently complain and argue with the officials about every little ticky tack no-call, but what he did yesterday was in, under no circumstances, worthy of a technical foul (and his 2nd!) meaning an automatic ejection. After the game, Duncan went onto say that Crawford challenged him to a fight, which is probably most definitely what Duncan and Horry were laughing about on the bench. If you haven't seen the video, it's a good one: Courtesy of AA:



Side note - is it just me, or has the world become a better place since AA purchased his Tivo - do yourself a favor and subscribe to his you tube page - good stuff always!

Anyway - back to Crawford. According to his wikipedia page:

Joe developed a reputation early in his NBA career for being "the guy handing out all the technical fouls, throwing guys out of games, a hothead, a real red-ass." Among his fellow officials, he became "the guy you wanted to go to war with, someone who’d have your back and take care of business." He firmly stood behind his profession and did not tolerate players or coaches who disrespected it. His philosophy was that he had to be aggressive. Crawford would later discover about himself that he had problems controlling his temper and sought anger management after an altercation with a coach. To this day, Joe continues to battle his temper problems.

Despite his short temper on the court, Crawford is considered one of the premier officials in the NBA. He has worked more playoff and NBA Finals games than any other active referee in the league and has appeared in the Finals every year since 1986.

The best comment I have seen so far about this - and I agree, comes from reader tarheels28 over at the fanhouse. He said:

3. If David Stern is half as interested in improving the quality of his game as he is in improving the "image" of his game (dress code, zero-tolerance on griping), he needs to suspend Joey Crawford for the entire playoffs. The finals last year were an absolute debacle with regard to officiating, and the last thing we need is a situation like this ruining what could be an incredible playoffs. This game meant nothing, but what if this happened in the Western Coast Finals with the Spurs and the Mavs? A referee should not think he's the main attraction, which unfortunately, is exactly what Joey Crawford thinks.

However, now that the Lakers have clinched a playoff spot. Stern could arrange for Crawford to officiate the Lakers home games under one condition: He spends the afternoon with Jack Nicholson...