These refs are out of control! Tax fraud, fixing games, and now assault! The power’s clearly gone to their heads.
During halftime of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic, DeRosa approached press row with the rest of the officiating crew to retrieve his jacket before heading to the locker room when he reacted to a fan standing behind press row yelling at him by picking up a ball and firing a chest pass in his direction.
The fan, Franz Hanning, who happens to be a personal friend of Celtics coach Doc Rivers and the CEO of Wyndham Vacation Ownership, immediately flipped the ball back to DeRosa while continuing his heckling, prompting DeRosa to request security personnel to remove him. Hanning watched the rest of the game from a different seat.
DeRosa, a veteran official with two decades of experience, will be suspended for the next game he was scheduled to work but otherwise appears eligible to continue working the NBA playoffs.
You know that DeRosa was already furious enough to lose his cool and throw the ball, but Hanning catching it like it was no big deal must have really gotten under DeRosa’s skin. He must have felt like such a tiny bitch. But anyway, of course he should be suspended. And just one game is probably not enough, considering if the fan threw something, he’d likely be charged with a crime. The Artest incident in Detroit made it clear that the NBA absolutely can not have players going into the stands, and now a ref actually throws a ball at a fan and all he gets is a one game suspension? Clearly Stern needs DeRosa around to help fix the games.
