NBA Ref Joe Crawford Suspended Indefinitely After Threatening to Fight Tim Duncan

David Stern has been known to come down hard on players when they are out of line. Joe Crawford is the first NBA referee to feel his wrath.

Joe Crawford has been suspended indefinitely after an incident with San Antonio Spur's star Tim Duncan. During the latest game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Spurs, Duncan and Crawford got into it. Duncan had been complaining about a few of Crawford's foul calls and Crawford teed him up after he argued an offensive foul call. The second technical foul call came after Duncan laughed at a call from the bench.

Duncan said Crawford has threatened him during the game.

"He looked at me and said, 'Do you want to fight? Do you want to fight?"' Duncan said. "If he wants to fight, we can fight. I don't have any problem with him, but we can do it if he wants to. I have no reason why in the middle of a game he would yell at me, 'Do you want to fight?"'

There were repercussions for Duncan's behavior as well. He was fined $25,000 dollars by the league. This fine comes from the alleged expletive he directed towards Crawford.

Stern had a lot to say about Crawford. "Especially in light of similar prior acts by this official, a significant suspension is warranted. Although Joey is consistently rated as one of our top referees, he must be held accountable for his actions on the floor, and we will have further discussions with him following the season to be sure he understands his responsibilities." He went on to say Crawford "failed to meet the standards of professionalism and game management we expect of NBA referees."

The prior acts Stern is referring to Crawford's aggressive reputation. He has been known to take control with his whistle and at times overshadow the game. One incident like this occurred during Game 2 of the 2003 NBA playoffs. Crawford ejected Don Nelson of the Dallas Mavericks for not returning to his bench fast enough. He later threw out Dallas' Del Harris. The first two game of the series were rife with fouls. There were 120 personal fouls and 9 technicals called. Stern was reportedly angry at this incident because the referees brought more attention to themselves than the game itself.

Joe Crawford has been officiating National Basketball Association games for 31 years now. He has officiated 38 NBA playoff games and more than 2000 regular season games.

Duncan made claims that Crawford has "personal vendetta against me." After the incident he made claims that Crawford only threw him out to get more airtime.

The Dallas Mavericks ended up winning the game. The Spurs cannot place second in the Western Conference now.

Sources: ESPN

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2840587