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15 Years Ago Today, Tim Duncan Was Ejected For Laughing

On April 15, 2007, NBA referee Joey Crawford was involved in a strange incident. He ejected Tim Duncan for laughing from the bench at a couple of his foul calls in a game against the Dallas Mavericks.

Duncan said that Crawford even challenged him to a fight after the technicals.

Crawford ejecting Duncan from the game with that verbal altercation, also changed Crawford’s life.

He was suspended by the late, great NBA commissioner David Stern and did not call the NBA Finals that season, ending a streak of 21 consecutive years of him officiating in the Finals. Crawford later was reinstated and was allowed to continue working as an NBA referee.

In a New York Times article, Crawford said that the Duncan incident has helped him in changing his approach to the job. It also made him consult a sports psychologist to help him on anger-management issues.

“The Duncan thing probably changed my life. It was just — you come to the realization that maybe the way you’ve been doing things is not the proper way and you have to regroup, not only on the court but off the court. I had seen a sports psychologist before that. But after, I saw him a lot more. His name is Joel Fish. He’s worked with a lot of athletes. It gave me a new perspective.”