The first instinct in a labor dispute is usually to support the workers, not management.
But there isn’t exactly a groundswell of backing for locked-out NBA referees, who are set to watch replacements from the NBA Development League and WNBA take their places when the NBA preseason begins.
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Washington Wizards head coach Flip Saunders could muster no more than a half-hearted endorsement — based on legitimacy-by-association — when asked about the prospects of replacement referees on Tuesday.
“You always have concerns,” said Saunders. “Everyone always says something about our referees. We’re still the best league in the world, with the best players in the world, the best coaches in the world. They’re the best referees. We’re the toughest game to ref. That’s why at times you go through this situation so it’s hopeful that it’s going to get worked out.”
According to reports, no talks have been held between the league and the referees since negotiations broke down last Thursday.
The referees union has dug in its heels, and it’s banking on a backlash from fans, who have far more tools at their disposal now than the last time this happened, in 1995, — i.e. the Internet and TiVo — to dissect replacement referee performances. NBA players are also likely to walk all over outmatched officials.
But the league appears happy to let it happen. By hiring formerly fired referees such as Robbie Robinson and Michael Henderson among its corps of replacements, the NBA is tacitly admitting that it is willing to let an already endangered product potentially suffer more in its most financially challenging season in years.
The NBA’s play may be a show meant to strike fear into the heart of the players union, which is next in line at the negotiating table. But the net result for both sides is an undue drama that has reinforced the fact that NBA officiating is little more than the highest level of a profession whose aspirations should be higher.
