NBA Referees Foul Calling

I wrote this about the study that concluded that NBA Referees were calling more fouls against members of the African American race...

There was an independent study performed by a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a graduate student at Cornell University. The research concluded that the NBA called more fouls against African American individuals. This independent study examined seasons 1991 through 2004. After hearing word of the independent study, the National Basketball Association conducted its own study, and they concluded that they distinguished no difference in the number of fouls called based on an individual’s race. The NBA’s study ranged from November of 2004 until January of 2007.

The independent study showed that African American players account for eighty-three percent of the minutes played, but only sixty-eight percent of referring officials were white. Players who played the same position and had similar numbers of points, rebounds, and assists received more fouls called against them of up to a four-and-half percent difference based upon the race of the referring crew. The three person referring crews were entirely white 30% of the time, made up of two white officials 47 % of the time, contained two black officials 20% of the time, and were all African American 3% of the time (Schwarz, 2007).

The study found that African American players had .12 to .2 more fouls called on them per game. The study suggests that for every black player starting for a team, the percentage of winning decreases by 1%. This results in a team with more black players losing approximately two more games per season. For the thirteen years studied, teams with black players playing more percentages of the game won 48.6% of the games played (Schwarz, 2007).
Mr. Wolfers, a member who conducted the independent study, stated that “basically, it suggests that if you spray-painted one of your starters white, you’d win a few more games” (Schwarz, 2007). The NBA commissioner David Stern argues that their assessment of the situation is “more powerful, more robust, and demonstrates that there is no bias” (Schwarz, 2007).

Owners, coaches, and players were asked about the issue and had mixed thoughts on the study. Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is not afraid to voice his opinions on the NBA’s officiating. He said in a phone interview, “We’re all human. We all have our own prejudice. That’s the point of doing statistical analysis. It bears it out in this application, as in a thousand others” (Schwarz, 2007). He was asked if he believed there was racial bias by referees and he responded with “No comment” (Schwarz, 2007). Two veteran, African-American players, Mike James and Alan Henderson stated that they did not feel as if they had been treated differently by referees. Two African American coaches, Doc Rivers and Maurice Cheeks responded with a statement of no comment when asked what their opinions were on the situation. Rod Thorn, the president of the New Jersey Nets, said that he did not believe the study and that he believed that referees get the majority of calls right but that they do make mistakes (Schwarz, 2007).

There was a difference in the way the independent study and the study by the NBA were conducted. The independent study did not receive official word on the race of the individual athlete or the referring crew. They examined photographs that were available to the public in deciding the race of the individual. The independent study then used box scores to distinguish what athlete committed the foul and which referring official made the foul call against the athlete. This may bring about a problem when there are players who do not appear physically to be a member of a specific race but are indeed a member of that ethnicity. For example, Jason Kidd, a point guard for the Dallas Mavericks, is mixed with white and African American heritage, so I’m not sure how the study would distinguish players like this as white or black.

This article also makes me wonder if there are distinguishable differences in the fouls called against white players that are from Europe, since there has been a recent influx of these players into the NBA. These players appear white, but speak different languages, or if they speak English they still have a thick accent which distinguishes them from the native born American citizens. I could see the same kind of bias being showed towards African Americans showed towards these individuals from other nations in the idea that they are still considered different in some way.

I remember when this topic was discussed in popular culture on the ESPN television channel, where the majority of analogists would argue that the independent study was bogus with their argument being that more fouls should be called against African Americans since the league is predominantly made up of blacks.

1. Schwarz, Alan. “Study of N.B.A. Sees Racial Bias in Calling Fouls” New York Times May, 2007. Webpage Accessed April, 9, 2007 [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/02/sports/basketball/02refs.html?_r=1&oref=slogin]