Game 6 Referee Assignments: Is the NBA Asking for It?

We've been discussing the referees a lot lately, so something would be amiss if I failed to mention the assignments for this evening's Game 6. And here they are, in all of their controversial glory:

Joey Crawford, Eddie F. Rush, and Bennett Salvatore.

Wow. Where do I begin? All three of these guys have a history of being involved in their share of controversies over the years. Let's just hit on the most recent for each, shall we? Crawford was the one suspended last season for ejecting Tim Duncan for laughing, then was assigned to the infamous Brent Barry-Derek Fisher game in this year's Western Conference Finals. Salvatore was the one that basically gave the Miami Heat the championship in 2006 with about eight controversial calls that favored the Heat in Game 5. And Rush has been called out for his inconsistency as recently as last season.

Now, Henry at TrueHoop says that in light of these assignments, the pressure's on tonight for the game to be free of controversial calls, especially ones that may favor the Lakers and extend the series to a seventh game. I agree to a certain extent, but isn't that the case in every big game? Steve Javie was assigned to Game 4, and if not for the Lakers' epic collapse, we might be discussing the ticky-tack call that he made late against Kobe that allowed Paul Pierce to seal the game at the free throw line.

There's one thing to keep in mind here, and that's the fact that the league assigns referees to the Finals based mostly on length of service, and all of these guys have been in the league a very long time. So because of their tenure, there's a more likely chance that over the years, they all would have found themselves involved in some sort of controversy. Still, with all of the recent focus on the officiating, the best thing to hope for is an evenly called game for both teams.