But all of the discussion needs to be within the confines of the rules, and among all referees. If you've got one set of officials that doesn't reward the flop, and another set that does, then you're sending mixed messages, which is the ultimate no-no.
The real problems I have are the "superstar" calls, the "late" calls, and the "make-up" calls. All three of these should *NEVER* happen. Yet every NBA fan, and most likely every NBA official, pretty much recognizes that they do.
The first one corrupts the game, giving a real advantage to a player who already has a presumed advantage.
The second one is a rewarding of poor play. "Oh, we'll wait to see whether or not the ball goes in before we call the foul or not" rewards a player who commits a foul but isn't effective at doing it, or rewards the poor rebounder while punishing the good one, just because the good one got the ball anyway. This teaches bad basketball.
The third is just plain horrible. *IF* we are to accept that officials will sometimes make mistakes, and we accept that on a limited basis, the "make-up" call is just plain wrong. If you make a call, MAKE IT RIGHT. If you're not capable of making that call correctly to the highest degree, then you shouldn't be a *PROFESSIONAL* referee. We pay professionals because we think they're so good at what they do that they should receive money for it. With that comes a certain expectation of performance. And yet the NBA doesn't penalize referees for "make-up" calls - calls that they PURPOSELY MISS to make-up for MISSED CALLS. This is just plain low expectations.
Just these three are HORRIBLE. And Donaghy goes beyond these complaints to alledge CROOKEDNESS. And the NBA turns a blind eye, and fines Mark Cuban for saying the things that most fans are already thinking.
