NBA officials Mike Callahan and Leon Wood dispel some common perceptions of their profession. Myth No. 1: The superstar no call Says Callahan: "Player A may be All-NBA, but we go out there and treat every player the same. We don't even mention Player A by name (when looking at pregame video), they're 'The Post Player' or 'The Guard Player.' " Myth No. 2: The rookie all call Says Wood: "There's a reason why. A lot of rookies don't have a lot of playing time or sit for 15 straight games, so they tend to be overly aggressive and do the stuff that's not legal." Myth No. 3: The makeup call Says Callahan: "The thinking is, though, you now have two missed calls. We treat every play as an individual play." Myth No. 4: The end-of-game whistle swallow Says Wood: "In a perfect world, we'd gone for 44 minutes within the rules. We're not now going to let them play ragtag for the last 3-4 minutes." Source
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Myth No. 1: The superstar no call Says Callahan: "Player A may be All-NBA, but we go out there and treat every player the same. We don't even mention Player A by name (when looking at pregame video), they're 'The Post Player' or 'The Guard Player.' "</div> <font color="Red">BullHonkery!</font> Yet they talk to them on a first name basis when on the court! Not selling me that one. I'd also ask them about how they call games when there's a player out there they don't like. I bet they never make it personal either..... <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Myth No. 3: The makeup call Says Callahan: "The thinking is, though, you now have two missed calls. We treat every play as an individual play."</div> This particular quote is pretty much older than dirt. I heard the exact same thing back when I was playing ball in elementray school. It's the philosophical response, not the realistic one. Tell me you've never watched a game where you hear a coach or player complain about a type of or actual call and they next trip down the floor it's called. They may not consider it a "make up call". I guess they just consider those particular calls "overcompensation calls"
I think that Myth Number One is total bogus. They may not act like it has any affect on the call, depending on the player, but everyone can see it. If Michael Jordan and someone like Ndudi Ebi made the same play, and it was an obvious violation, do you honestly think they will call it on Jordan and Ebi? No. When you have a superstar status, you can get away with more and everyone knows it. You can hear the referees talking to them all the time, calling them by their first name and acting friendly. No matter how hard they try, there is going to be biasism based on what it says on the back of your jersey. Also, Myth Number Three you can see happen all the time. If the referees make a couple questionable calls, and are getting totally harrassed and insulted by player, coaches, and fans; you can almost bet that the next call will be in the opposite teams favor.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">NBA officials Mike Callahan and Leon Wood dispel some common perceptions of their profession. Myth No. 1: The superstar no call Says Callahan: "Player A may be All-NBA, but we go out there and treat every player the same. We don't even mention Player A by name (when looking at pregame video), they're 'The Post Player' or 'The Guard Player.' " Myth No. 2: The rookie all call Says Wood: "There's a reason why. A lot of rookies don't have a lot of playing time or sit for 15 straight games, so they tend to be overly aggressive and do the stuff that's not legal." Myth No. 3: The makeup call Says Callahan: "The thinking is, though, you now have two missed calls. We treat every play as an individual play." Myth No. 4: The end-of-game whistle swallow Says Wood: "In a perfect world, we'd gone for 44 minutes within the rules. We're not now going to let them play ragtag for the last 3-4 minutes." Source</div> Good one. I really see guys like Flores on the Warriors not get calls. Also Shaq can take as many steps as he wants and it is hardly ever traveling
crap BULL-CRAP!! Superstars do get calls, towards the end of games the refs are afraid to make calls and they do make calls up for previous bad calls. I agree that there isnt a bias against rooks though.
Referees are human...they have memories. When they realize they screwed up on a call, it's obvious, they want to make it up. Especially if the crowd is booing. The NBA would like to think the refs are superhuman and can ignore all the pressures...but it's just not possible.
Alot of these hold no water in game, but referess still must think this way. and the Superstar call? The refs have been mic'd and they were talking to Jordan on afirst name basis(the only moment I remember when I specifically heard this). And there are obivously make up calls. Still, you cannot knock the refs for lying, they are trying to keep it this way, however I would like tos ee a bit more effort some times.
