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There has to be more to this story, although I'm not sure that we will ever hear it. I don't believe that Crawford tossed Duncan just for laughing -- even though that is all that we see on camera. There had to be more that was said.
I'm pretty sure that Duncan was fined for his actions after he got tossed. It has been reported that he called Crawford a "Piece of s**t" among some other choice words. If Duncan was fined for actions before the second technical, it would be a tough sell that Crawford shouldn't have ejected him.
I have to ask - Nevadaref - how old are you? My guess is under 25. When you are young 50 seems like a LONG way away, but as you get closer (I'm 34) it doesn't seem that far off!!
Most of the NCAA officials that are in their prime are in their 40s and 50s - that is when they peak! Don Rutledge is a great example of an official who didn't even start until he was 32!
There certainly shouldn't be an arbitrary age at which you can no longer officiate, especially in the NBA. How would they get officials to sign up to leave their current careers and officiate for 15 years, only to be thrown out because they have reached the age ceiling? I'm not quite sure what sort of job you can get at 50 years old with only NBA Basketball Referee on your resume.
On balance, I have to say that it looks like Crawford's suspension is way out of line when compared to the suspensions that have been handed out to players in the past. Although, this is a good wake up call to us -- as it demonstrates once again that we are by far at the bottom of this business. The only reason that we have jobs is because they haven't figured out how to call the games themselves.
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