The National Basketball Association: A Referee's Game

I recently read an article written by one of Bleacher Reports' finest writers, Sean Crowe. He spoke about the NBA in a controversy regarding the referees of the game.

We all have to realize that the NBA officials control the fate of the game simply with the blow of their whistles. They have the job to decide whether or not the ball went out of bounds by the home team or the opposing team, and must determine the call within a matter of seconds.

They have the power to regulate the direction of the game, and are the ultimate deciding factors in the end.

Most people are oblivious to the importance that a referee has in a game. In an average NBA game, at least 50 calls are made in reference to fouls, traveling, possession, jump balls, three seconds, etc.

On numerous occasions, critical calls must be made by refs that change the course of the game. At the end of regulation, these decisions reflect which team gets the win and which gets the loss.

In present-day NBA, it seems as if referees call in favor of the Alpha-Dogs of the NBA. You can almost guarantee every time LeBron James takes the ball to the hoop, he is destined for the free-throw line.

This is not how it always works for most players in the league.

As Sean Crowe wrote in his article, “Since that game, the Cavs have had attempted more free throws than their opponents in all but three games. They've averaged almost 10 more free throws per game than their opponents. And, as we’ve witnessed in the last two games, there are very few fouls called against them in crunch time.

"Even super stars like Wade and Paul Pierce don’t get calls, while lesser players like Varejao and Mo Williams get calls as if they were an extension of King James.”

It is clearly evident that the above statement is 100 percent true.

James will get more calls during “crunch time” than any other player in the NBA. The Cavaliers seem to put the pieces of the puzzle together when down with very few minutes left of any game.

Not only do the Cavs normally end the game with a victory, but achieve their success highly due to the assistance of the referees.

If the Cavaliers make it to the NBA Finals this season, we can expect to see a lot of controversy regarding to the referees and their game callings.

Is this because the referees are simply in favor of The King, or am I not just getting a little too far ahead of myself?

P.S. Did former referee Tim Donaghy not allegedly bet on NBA games, including ones that he officiated? If he did it, what makes us believe that it is still not occurring today?