First off, a disclaimer. Due to several factors I did not watch the game Sunday. In hindsight I am glad I did not. That said, I have been able to watch the play that caused the league to issue the statement about DH12 fouling out. I find the fact that they felt the need to own that little mistake curious. Considering that the fact that the statement did nothing to atone for the mistake, it is like saying, "in case no one noticed, ya'll got screwed"! Somehow I find this less than satisfactory. Pretty much everyone did notice. Everyone except, it seems the deaf dumb, and blind guy that called the foul. Did that foul effect the outcome of the game? Seems hard to believe it did not, at least to some extent. It seems that the league follows the you can't unring the bell philosophy in these matters. Keep that in mind, I will get back to it.
I have for years held the opinion that certain refs seemed to have an agenda that was beyond the parameters of the job. A few seem to have players or worse coaches they just do not like. Others are only suspect if they are provoked, better perhaps, but still capable of injecting themselves into the outcome of a game. On the lowest rung of this ladder are the few that can be bullied by star players, coaches, or owners, (yea Mark you). I have no use for this group as they allow the conduct and when it works it encourages it. All of these issues damage the game to some extent. None of course, reach the level of buying influence to effect the outcome of a game. I had long suspected that went on but the league blissfully rejected the notion out of hand until a ref went to prison. The bell had been rung, you can't unring the bell .
I won't go into depth about the response to that little disaster. Let me say that if I had been tasked with damage control for that, I would want to show beyond any doubt that preferential treatment by officials for any reason would not be tolerated. Appearance of such behavior would bring a response, repeating such conduct would cost you your 6 figure job. Needless to say, no one asked me. So you get a statement that won't buy a cup of coffee and only tends to lend insult to injury.
For my part, I have long ago decided that the game does not deserve the kind of attention I once devoted to it. I have been to one game this year, do not have the ability to watch the games on broadcast, (screw Comcast), and have not spent any money on NBA gear in years. In effect, I vote with my money and am no longer invested. In truth I see little motivation in the league to make the game more fair and transparent. Sad, I used to really enjoy it.
I did not post this to create a venue on a single games outcome, who pushes off or who flops. If anyone has a real suggestion on how the process of regulating officials can be improved however, please feel free to comment.