NBA officiating

[JoeT]

Originally posted by Joe
Again, with 10s of millions on the line, do
you think the NBA as a business may have
an "emotional bias"?

No idea. My point was in regard to fans' and coaches' reactions (my own included) to perceived inequities in calls.

Our perspective is naturally skewed if we have an interest in the game. Due to the nature of sport, very few people watching a game have no interest in its outcome. I can't tell you how many games end with fans and coaches on both sides absolutely conviced that the officials were biased against them.

My only point is that many questionable calls are quick judgment calls. In these cases, people tend to see the call in light of how it helped or hurt their own team.

If a person claims that the quality of officiating is poor or the officials are biased (or worse, conspiring to aid or hurt a particular team), I just ask whether that's based on an impartial assesment of facts. I ask this with the understanding that very few spectators or participants are observing the game without interest in its outcome.