NBA Officating More Than Questionable

Save civility and political correctness for the start of the weekend.

It is Sunday and I am furious!

NBA officiating officially peaked in its incompetence Saturday afternoon in the Mavericks-Nuggets game.

I am not even sure if this was the fault of human error or simple negligence.

After all, is there not an instant replay in the last two minutes of the game? Can refs now review a controversial play and decide with a clearer view and more time to think on what the right play was with this technology?

Was Antoine Wright's attempt at fouling Carmelo Anthony not as clear as day?

The answer to all of these questions, I believe, is yes!

But this is not an isolated incident of fault. No, throughout the playoffs, the interpretation of what is a flagrant foul and what is not has been questioned again and again, keeping Stu Jackson awake so often at night, he may have inadvertently eavesdropped over an entire season of "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" on Nickelodeon's late night schedule.

Let's just cut the baloney and get to the heart of the issue. The problem with the NBA officiating in the playoffs has been the clear sense of what degree of physicality will be tolerated, period.

Rajon Rondo throws Kirk Heinrich into the scorers' table and is only charged with a foul. Dwyane Wade attempts to block a dunk of Maurice Evans in the first round, causing both to land awkwardly, and is charged with a flagrant.

Yes, you could make a devil's advocate argument on the refs' behalf, but that is really not the point.

The point is consistency. There have been wavering levels of consistency in the officiating.

The point is that the Mavs are now in an zero to three deficit in the Western Conference semifinals, instead of a much more manageable one to two deficit with the next game on their home court.

I recently got into a friendly debate about how the NBA, unlike Major League Baseball, did not have cheating to spoil the sport. No NBA players do steroids (and no, its not 'roid rage, Kenyon Martin is just crazy), and they do not have anything on the soles of their feet to help them jump higher.

Yet, I forget one thing in the whole cheating debate and, luckily, so did my friend: Tim Donaghy!

I am not saying there are still other refs like Donaghy still around, but you have to wonder if the cause of all the officiating woes we have been seeing are a result of some ulterior motive.

Maybe Joey Crawford is unhappy with his 401(k)? Maybe Steve Javie wants to go to Aruba this summer and come back home to a new Ferrari sitting in his driveway?

And you know what? You cannot say it is impossible because it has already happened before.

But whatever the reason, the NBA officiating has been a travesty. Question what effects it has had so far, but there is no denying that the Mavs have basically had their playoff fate sealed.

Here is the last question I want you to really think about: What if it was not the Mavs who suffered from that blown call? What if it was your team?

If things keep going as they are, chances are that question is a reality you will soon see.