NBA: When things heat up, 5 on 5 can quickly become 1 on 1
Web Posted: 04/17/2007 11:00 PM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
Some of the NBA’s best rivalries aren’t team vs. team or even player vs. player — they’re player vs. official. Express-News NBA writer Mike Monroe looks at a handful from the past few years:
Tim Duncan vs. Joey Crawford, 2007
Given a second technical foul and ejected from Sunday’s game against the Mavericks, the Spurs’ two-time MVP power forward said, “He came into this game with a personal vendetta against me. It had to be. I didn’t do anything this entire game.” Crawford, who also called a technical against Duncan on April 1 at Indiana, was suspended indefinitely by commissioner David Stern on Tuesday.
Clyde Drexler vs. Jake O’Donnell, 1995
Bad blood developed between O’Donnell, one of the league’s best veteran refs, and Hall of Famer Drexler during Drexler’s playing days in Portland. There are varying versions of what started the feud — Drexler claiming O’Donnell refused to shake his hand during a pregame captain’s meeting, O’Donnell claiming Drexler once threatened to punch him. After O’Donnell called a phantom foul on Drexler in Game 2 of the 1995 Western Conference semifinals in Phoenix and followed with two technicals and an ejection, he never refereed another game.
Nick Van Exel vs. Steve Javie, 2001-06
The well-traveled Van Exel’s problems with Javie began in 2001, when Van Exel was with the Denver Nuggets. Then, Van Exel claimed, Javie called him a “miserable person” during a game in Milwaukee from which he was ejected. Their feud continued for several seasons, the final episode occurring during last year’s Spurs-Mavericks playoff series when Javie nailed Van Exel with a two-technical ejection during Game 2. “(Javie) has a grudge,” Van Exel said after the “miserable person” game. “It’s not fair that you pretty much know that before the game starts.”
David Robinson vs. Steve Javie, 1996
The mild-mannered, even-tempered “Admiral” wasn’t tossed from Game 6 of the Spurs’ conference semifinals series against the Utah Jazz by Javie, but he got three quick foul calls in the first half, which dramatically cut his playing time in what turned out to be a 108-81 loss. Afterward, Robinson uncharacteristically laid into Javie verbally, saying he had made the game “personal” because of an incident in a game late in the season in which he believed Robinson ran at him after a call. “With Javie, it’s personal,” Robinson said. “He brought that crap to the floor … I don’t appreciate him bringing that crap to the floor.”
Rasheed Wallace vs. all referees, 1996-2007
Wallace, the league leader in technical fouls each of the past five seasons, was suspended twice this season for excessive techs. He has accused all referees of giving him less freedom to question calls than any player in the league and has been T’d up this season for laughing at calls and for saying, “Ball don’t lie,” after opposing players have missed free throws awarded on calls Wallace questioned.
Kobe Bryant vs. Stu Jackson, 2007
Jackson is not a referee, but as the league’s executive vice president for basketball operations, he is in charge of them. He also is the league’s czar of discipline, and it was Jackson who twice suspended Bryant for striking two players, Manu Ginobili and Kyle Korver, with his arm while following through on shots. It was enough for Lakers coach Phil Jackson to accuse the league of conducting a “witch hunt” against Bryant, an accusation that cost the Lakers a $50,000 fine.