"Our profession has totally changed for the better since I first came in," Crawford says. "Some people complain about the scrutiny, but I like it. You have to keep an open mind to growing every year and getting better. Once you stop trying to get better and thinking you have it made, you stop growing. You have to be able to admit — which is very hard to do — that you were wrong. You can grow from that."

I have a tremendous amount of respect for that attitude. I certainly don’t see enough of it in my own work environment. I have two takeaway thoughts here:

1. It’s too bad that Stern doesn’t seem to want or be able to show the self-reflection that goes on within NBA officiating. The tight-lipped, behind-closed-doors approach is SO lame and outdated. I’m sure the goal is to protect the officials from the slings and arrows of backseat refs, but I think it’s counterproductive.

2. I realize that Joey Crawford is a widely hated ref. Is he universally hated? In other words, is he disliked by fans regardless of market? If true, wouldn’t that be an indicator that he actually is fair, both in his application of rules that other refs left slide, and in being consistent from one team to another?

Has Crawford ever let his feelings about a player affect a call?

"No," he says. "You’re just looking at shirts. They bring a stat sheet into the locker room after a game. You see so-and-so had 40 points, and you didn’t know he had four.

And the Tim Duncan (plus the NBA) agree

Having to deal with idiot fans ripping him mercilessly has to gnaw at him.

And yeah, fans are a collection of idiots.

if you want to know how “nice” NBA refs are (and Stern, as well). Nobody believed Jose Canseco in the beginning, either.