First things, first: Rajon Rondo deserves his one-game suspension.
Rondo’s biggest knock, and really, the only reason as to why Danny Ainge has ever listened to trade offers regarding the immensely talented sixth year point guard is this: he is painfully immature.
That could all one day change, of course. One should bet that it will, actually. Paul Pierce, in his seventh NBA year in 2005 was ejected in a pivotal Game 6 playoff game against Indiana. He followed it up by waving his jersey in the air and wrapping a giant bandage around his head in the postgame press conference.
That was more of an immature act than what Rondo did Sunday night.
So there’s still room for Rondo to change. That we know.
The other party involved in this passive aggressive exercise that occurs each and every spring in today’s NBA, of course, was official Marc Davis. On that end, there will likely be no alteration in behavior this spring or any spring.
Just three weeks ago, Davis blew call after call in, oddly enough, a Celtics-Hawks game at TD Garden.
Now, I am one of the lone souls remaining that believe David Stern is the best commissioner in sports. Insane, I know.
But it’s clear that Stern is also the most stubborn amongst the Selig, Goodell, Bettman crew. After the Tim Donaghy officiating scandal that should have rocked sports for decades, but somehow didn’t, one would think that Stern would have made at least a little effort to have his league become just a smidgen more transparent when it comes to questionable calls on the floor.
That hasn’t happened. In fact, one could make the case that things are worse than ever.
Explain to us exactly why Metta World Peace was suspended seven games instead of 10? Tell us that your officials made a mistake with a bad goaltending call or a phantom foul at the end of these games. Show the fans all the ways you are trying to improve the situation, instead of always going the Mafia rout and covering up things that don’t even need to be covered up.
The NFL does a very nice job allowing former director of officiating Mike Pereira to explain and question calls DURING NFL broadcasts on FOX. The segments give fans insight into what the referees are thinking on the field.
Bad calls remain bad calls, sure. But at least the NFL tries to narrow the fan-to-official gap. They, in fact, humanize their officials.
NBA officials, meanwhile, are still robots to the fans. And evil ones at that.
