kobayashi said:
is the nba the same as the nhl where media cannot speak to referees following a game?
i agree with this rule. media shouldn't talk to refs. they also shouldn't have a reason to begin with.
Not only are refs unavailable for comment after games, players are not allowed to criticize refs in the media (doing so is punishable by fines), and the NBA does absolutely nothing to address the perception that its officiating stinks/is inconsistent/blatantly favors star players/etc. Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has been complaining about the officiating all season. He knows full well that he's going to pile up fines with every criticism, but he's succeeded somewhat in swaying public opinion towards his side.
Compare this with the NFL, where referees and NFL bigwigs freely discuss these sorts of things. There are numerous examples of NFL referees calmly explaining controversial calls minutes after the game:
-Thanksgiving 1998 (?), Detroit vs. Pittsburgh. For the overtime coin flip, referee Phil Luckett asks Pittsburgh captain Jerome Bettis to call the flip. Bettis hesitates for a second, then says 'heads.' The coin comes up heads, Luckett says 'the call is tails. The coin is heads. Detroit has won the flip.'
After the game, Luckett explained that Bettis at first said 'tails,' then quickly changed his mind and said 'heads,' as the video replay proved. By rule, Luckett had to accept Bettis's initial 'tails' call.
-2000 playoffs, Tennessee vs. Buffalo. Buffalo scores the go-ahead touchdown with 10 seconds left and kicks off. Tennessee's Lorenzo Neal fields the kickoff, hands off to Frank Wycheck, who immediately fires a lateral pass to Kevin Dyson. Kevin Dyson runs to the end zone untouched. Buffalo howls about the lateral pass, which they thought was an illegal forward pass, and demands a replay. After the video review, the play stands. Touchdown. Phil Luckett also happened to be refereeing this play, and he calmly explained over the PA (and to the media after the game) that although the pass looked like a forward pass, Wycheck's hand was in fact a few inches upfield of the spot where Dyson caught the pass, as the video replay showed.
-2002 playoffs, Oakland vs. New England. With New England driving for a tying field goal in the freezing snow, Tom Brady drops back to pass. He is hit by an Oakland defender, drops the ball, and Oakland recovers. The ref blows the whistle and signals an incomplete pass, not a fumble. The play goes to the video review again, and the ref explains over the PA that although Brady's arm was no longer making a forward passing motion, he had not yet tucked the ball away, and hence by rule the play is an incomplete pass.
In the case of Rivaldo going down, all the referee has to do is say that he thought firing the ball at Rivaldo's legs deserved a red card, regardless of Rivaldo's theatrics, and he'll placate a lot of people.