Steve Javie has little in common with the average NBA spectator.
He likes rules. He likes referees. He does not like emotional players in rivalry games.
Javie, the television analyst for ABC, has been an NBA referee for 25 years, so it’s no surprise that he’s usually on the officials’ side on controversial decisions. His catches in the Lakers-Clippers game on Sunday afternoon, however, were a step beyond his usual contributions and earned the contempt of color commentator Jeff Van Gundy as well as home fans.
Javie claimed that a series of questionable technical faulty calls in the contest were warranted, and that there was no room for mockery of any kind in the game. He then stated that maintaining stringent order against taunts had led to a drop in fighting – a daring take without any evidence offered to support it.
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Here is the technical foul call that caused the most backlash to be useless, but which Javie defended:
Javie was excluded from social media for his bias toward arbitration. Few people seem to appreciate Dwight Schrute’s adherence to law and order.
I’m sorry but Steve Javie is coming out here with propaganda saying there is no more fighting in the NBA because they got rid of the taunts. Get out of here.
– Yaya Dubin (@ JADubin5) March 8, 2020
I’m sorry but Steve Javie is coming out here with propaganda saying there is no more fighting in the NBA because they got rid of the taunts. Get out of here.
– Yaya Dubin (@ JADubin5) March 8, 2020
The quick-release technical faults, by the way, didn’t do much to lessen the intensity of the game. They just arbitrarily annoyed an otherwise fun affair.