Its time to stop actin like Dominique wasn't assaulted last nite by a former referee

Veteran officials these days are often hard to come by, especially since the NBA pulls most of its whistle-blowers out of the CBA rather than the college ranks, where experienced officials usually hold other jobs. There are a lot of officials on the court today younger than the players, something that was unheard of not too long ago.

Take the case of Rashan Michel, 25, who in 1997 became the youngest official in the NBA at 23. The NBA complains about 18-year-olds making the jump to the NBA, but a 23-year-old referee?

That’s right. Michel, who wears the highest number in the league at 74, has done four.

The Cavs have had 46 different officials work their 26 games this season. Guess who’s been seen at more Cavs’ games than any other official.

Michael Jordan used to say that if the numbers of the three officials add up to 120, you’re in trouble.

With that in mind, it’s no wonder the Cavaliers have been running into a lot of problems lately with officials, the most inexperienced of whom wear the higher numbers.


Over the last five games, the numbers have added up to 138, 123, 144, 160 and 145.

Is it any coincidence that during that period, forward Mark Bryant had an ejection and Coach Randy Wittman and assistant coach Bill Blair both picked up technicals?

Complaining about officiating is an easy thing to do. But it’s obvious it’s not as good as it used to be.

The dropoff in talent began in the 1980s, when NBA officiating crews went from two to three. Expansion has added the need for more referees (there now are 60 who work regular-season games). Many top officials have retired in recent years. Some less-than-stellar officials came into the league after several referees were let go for cheating on their income taxes. At least most of those who were fired have been reinstated.

Wittman has been quite vocal recently about poor officiating. It’s undoubtedly taking some time for Wittman, a rookie coach, to earn respect from some of the refs. But when the winningest coach in history, Atlanta’s Lenny Wilkens, isn’t sure what’s going on, you know there’s a problem.

“With today’s officials, I have no idea,” said Wilkens, who was responding to a question about whether it takes young coaches time to earn respect from the zebras. “I don’t know where half these guys come from or what their reactions are. They’re totally different. In the old days, when we had a lot of veteran officials, they would give you the benefit of the doubt and give you a chance. But the ones today, well, they’re different.”