The scourge of the technical foul

Or rather, the scourge of the wanton application of the technical foul by incompetent NBA referees. One of the emerging subplots of these NBA playoffs is the fact that two key players — Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard — are on the verge of being suspended for a game for accumulating technical fouls. In the NBA, if you accumulate 7 technical fouls during the course of the playoffs, you pick up a one game suspension: Howard has six, Bryant has five.

The problem is not the rule, necessarily. (I think it’s a silly rule, but that’s neither here nor there.) The problem is the fact that refs give out technicals like candy. Every time two players get tangled up under the hoop and talk some trash the refs hand out double technicals. Dare question a referee’s impeccable judgment? That’s a technical. Show frustration in any way? That’s a technical. The double technical is especially galling: It’s a cowardly move by the refs, one designed to calm things down without assigning blame (both guys get Ts) or affecting the game (since no one shoots free throws). But the double T counts to that magical 7 technical total, and they add up quickly in the playoffs, when things get chippy and refs feels greater need to keep things under control.