The NBA refs, like the players, are adjusting to the bubble life and games
Another important group, one that’s often underappreciated, arrived Sunday to the NBA bubble and began its week-long quarantine inside a hotel room with a complimentary physio ball, jump rope and stretch bands.
Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s VP of Referee Development, actually drove to Disney World with an exercise bike in his car, and rolled it up to his hotel room. It was a pro move. The accommodations for the referees aren’t as extravagant as what the players enjoy, and McCutchen understands why they must reside in separate hotels for the next two-plus months.
The optics of fair play is especially important in an unprecedented environment.
“Robert Frost, a great poet, once wrote, ‘Good fences make good neighbors,’ ” McCutchen told the Daily News over the phone Thursday. “Look, our players and coaches and referees here are very professional. If they were to run into each other, no one is going to be talking about the calls last night. Our players are too classy, our coaches are too classy, for that.
“That being said, in the age of cell phones, if you happen to run into each other, and you both smile as you said, ‘Hello,’ that smile on a cell phone could be interpreted a million different ways in people’s eyes. So we are in a different hotel.”
More than half the NBA’s 70 referees were invited to the bubble for the 88 seeding games and subsequent playoffs. They were selected through the usual process of picking referees for the postseason — it was based on an aggregate ranking from the referee’s office, a computer-generated analytical profile and input from individual teams.
Given the accelerated nature of the bubble, McCutchen said the choices were strictly based on performance, not potential.
“We’re jumping right into games that have a direct impact with not a lot of runway on that impact to see who gets into the playoffs, we wanted the people who had earned it,” McCutchen said. “Not who we were going to give a few games here and there to grow them or do something along those lines. These are the people who have earned it to be here.”
Still, the bubble games present unique challenges that can’t be reconciled through normal NBA experience. The main difference is the absence of fans and, by extension, the lack of background noise. Whereas coaches and players might have to scream to get the referee’s attention in normal times, the volume of communication will have to be adjusted in Orlando.
“I’m sure coaches and players are going to figure out how to be heard without trying to embarrass us or one another,” McCutchen said.
Still, McCutchen anticipates hiccups. He also explained the difference acceptable profanity and technical-worthy profanity.
“Grammar becomes very important,” he said. “ ‘You’re full of s---’ is a lot different than, ‘Oh, c’mon Monty, that’s bulls---.’ The former is definitely a technical foul, the latter maybe not so much at a low volume. I think collaboratively we’ll figure that out. Could there be some rough spots and bumps? Sure, it’s competition. But we won’t hold that against anybody.”
In 2018, McCutchen, 54, started his executive position after 25 years as a top NBA referee. He’s in the bubble to oversee the officiating, not to actually blow whistles. But he’s certainly confident in his crew, and believes there’s at least one benefit to refereeing inside the bubble.
“Our officials are going to be much more well-rested. We’re not going to be having to get up at 4 a.m. to get to a game and having three flights canceled and having to drive from Kennedy to LaGuardia,” McCutchen said. “That’s going to be a positive for our group.”
As with the players, however, the layoff and potential for rust can’t be ignored. They haven’t officiated a game in over four months, and their weekly Zoom meetings can’t replace physical reps.
Physical fitness is obviously vital for NBA referees, who will undergo a mandatory weight-check inside the bubble. McCutchen anticipates soreness as an issue, and the NBA has supplied a medical team assigned to the referees “for any nooks and crannies that need to be worked out.”
Of course, the first hurdle is getting through the week-long quarantine while testing negative for the coronavirus. Then they’ll officiate the world’s most important basketball games with no fans.
“I think to a large degree there’s some purity to that,” McCutchen said. “We’re going to get to work with them in a pure sense, with no distractions. And as a referee, there’s a purity to that that is very appealing. We’re looking at this as an opportunity, not a burden.”
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