David Stern on Referees

BS: The biggest difference since when I was a kid going to the games, and you knew [guys] like Earl Strom and Darrell Garretson, it seemed like just the way they dealt with the players was more personal, there was more leeway and stuff like that. Now it's like they're all coming out of a factory, they're all in fantastic shape …

DS: Here's the problem -- you're right. Up to a point. We did go through a period where we didn't deal with the players as well as we could have personally, and we're moving back to that in terms of communicating. But listen to what I said before -- we want to come to a place where, no matter who you send, you get the same game. So when a referee becomes a personality who's bigger than the game, who's gonna call it his way and have a certain level of rough justice that he administers, that's absolutely the opposite of what you have to want if you are running a bunch of referees. So what do you say? We want you to be in great shape. We want you to look professionally and carry yourself in a certain way. We want you to deal with the players and coaches in a professional manner. We want you to be in the right place at the right time. And of course, we would like you to make the right call. And if they do that even 94 percent of the time, that means that six out of 100 calls or non-calls or missed calls are going to be there every night. [Bangs desk] And believe, we've had several this year where games were decided on the basis of wrong calls. [Bangs desk again] OK? And believe me, I hear it from the owners.