Female bonding in the NBA

Sporting News, The, Nov 10, 1997 by Dave Kindred

Maybe four years ago, an NBA player whose name ought to be forgotten but is re-membered as Ken Norman came into such wealth that the money exceeded his talent by multiples of a thousand and made him a carrier of almost every psycho-financial sickness in today's SportsWorld.

On one memorable night, this poor lost soul threw an unholy tantrum in protest of a referee's call against him. Referees are obliged to suffer these fools, so one of the NBA's finest stood stonefaced at midcourt during the player's blithering commen-tary on his competence, courage and mother's virtue.

After the technical fouls and ejection, which seemed to have been the player's purpose all along, the player followed the harangue with an even more remarkable act. He approached the referee arms windmilling. What now? Would he commit assault? Nope. He had another idea, stranger by far. He broke out in a smile. He bowed to the referee. And then kissed him. Smack on his high forehead.

I bring this up to show that the presence of two women referees in the NBA can hardly make the sport's shameless brats any more shameless than they've always been. Long before Roberto Alomar spat on an umpire's face, Charles Barkley spat on a paying customer. You really think Dennis Rodman can get worse? Come kin. Predictably, the Bull with the wind tunnel between his ears rushed into the debate, immediately bringing it to a level all cretins could understand.

Rodman is concerned about his license to pat referees on the rear end. Always before a sign of his charm and forgiving nature (he would have us believe), might a pat applied to a woman's rear end be interpreted differently? As a matter of fact, yes. It's likely and even proper that such a pat by a man whose sexual proclivities are as twisted as they are public would be thought of as more than buddy-buddy encouragement of an NBA colleague. Here's a monomaniacal freak who posed nude to sell books, who wore a wedding gown to sell books and whose book title is reported here, Bad as I Wanna Be, only so I can report the title of his first wife's book-in-reply, Worse Than He Says He Is. Why, come to think of it should any NBA player, even those with normal human values, touch any NBA official, male or female?

Perhaps unwittingly, the Mavericks' Dennis Scott gave us an answer after Violet Palmer became the first woman to work a regular-season NBA game. Scott believes the touching is a manly bonding ritual that builds camaraderie among players and referees. He further suggests this perceived camaraderie makes it OK for players to speak unspeakably to referees. But, troglodyte that he is, Scott wonders if that applies to a woman as well.

"Can she take it?" Scott said. "It's different with a man 7-foot and 300 pounds and there are words coming out of his mouth out of frustration. Can she handle it?" And then, laughing, Scott wondered what would happen if a player called a woman referee "the b-word.... There could be a sexual harassment lawsuit." Four thoughts here.

1. The late Earl Strom, the imperious Earl Strom, the best referee ever--did anyone pat his bottom thinking they'd curry favor?

2. You ever hear an outraged woman curse another woman? Unless human nature has changed in the last few minutes, Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner have heard worse from women athletes than they'll hear from men. After Palmer's debut, for instance, the Grizzlies' Shareef Abdur-Rahim waxed chivalrous: "I think guys were kind of scared to say the same things that they would to a male referee. I've got a mother and sisters, so I don't want to say anything to a woman ref that I wouldn't say to them.

They'd probably call and give me a bad time if I said something bad to her."

3. A sexual harassment lawsuit? "Hardly," said Kantner. She has sense of humor enough to say that, at age 37, she didn't imagine doing a national press conference to answer questions about men's hands on her rear end. "If there are actions out there that are intended to be condescending, I think Violet and I will be, I hope, able to ... handle them accordingly."

Both referees insist their NBA experiences have been positive. Both say they've never heard a sexist remark (though Kenny Anderson of the Trail Blazers was quoted telling Kantner to "watch the game instead of my pants"). Kantner added this caveat: "I am not a Pollyanna thinking that is all that is going to happen."

4. Hooray for Palmer and Kantner, who have proven their ability. Veteran officials of women's college basketball and the WNBA, they've worked two NBA preseasons as well as summer league games. I accept the NBA's evaluation of their skills because the league wouldn't risk a marketing mistake by hiring unqualified women referees.

And whatever else the hiring of the women is, it's certainly a marketing tool designed by one of today's most savvy marketers to sell a few more tickets. And they do need to sell tickets. Trouble's coming. The New York Times reports widespread marijuana use by NBA players.... Angry labor/management sniping, usually kept private, has become public a year before the league's contract with its players expires.... Michael Jordan is aging gracefully, but inevitably, and the Bulls, with Scottie Pippen injured, have lost to a team that won only 15 games last year.