Growing up during the Michael Jordan era in Chicago, it was easy for me to instantly become a fan of the NBA. Besides seeing the rise and heyday of arguably one of the greatest basketball teams in history, there was the sideshow off the court that went on with the Bulls of the 1990s that added to the entertainment value. However, since the retirement of Jordan after the 1997-1998 season, my interest in the NBA has declined significantly, and it appears that I am not alone. TV ratings for the NBA have plummeted this decade, culminating with the lowest-rated NBA Finals in history last season during the San Antonio Spurs’ four-game sweep of Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Most people blame the lack of true superstars, role models, and poor fundamental play for the fans’ disinterest, although I’d like to think my passion for the NBA is still there and that the Bulls’ recent mediocre play is the real reason I haven’t been tuning in.

So I decided to make it a point to watch more NBA games this season in hopes of rekindling my lost passion for the sport. On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I watched my beloved Bulls take on the New York Knicks. Sadly, I realized the lack of star power and poor fundamentals is more prevalent than ever. However, as I continued to watch more games, I noticed another facet of the game that seems to have suffered greatly – officiating.

The recent scandal involving former referee Tim Donaghy has certainly left a scar on the integrity of the game, one which NBA Commissioner David Stern has been working diligently to heal. Donaghy, who pleaded guilty to betting on NBA games he officiated over the last two years and making calls affecting the point spread in those games, justified the public’s lack of faith in NBA officiating. Outside of Donaghy and back on the court, it seems officiating is getting progressively worse with each passing year. So much so that I thought it was worth writing about. Here are my top pet peeves with the men in pinstripes.

Lack of traveling and 3-second calls: During that Bulls-Knicks matchup, I was amazed at how many traveling and 3-second violations were missed. Now I’m not one who believes traveling should be called by the letter of the law. After all, most dunks you see (including some of the greatest of all time) are the result of a little shuffling of the feet. However, when Zach Randolph starts doing the two-step without dribbling the ball 20 feet away from the basket with a defender in his face, I expect the ref to blow the whistle. When Eddie Curry starts roasting marshmallows in the paint, I’m looking for the ref to wave his hands in the air like he’s flagging down a beer vendor and make the call. Professional basketball is a fast-paced game and these calls slow down the pace, which in turn slows down scoring, something the NBA frowns upon. But in obvious situations, the call needs to be made. This is one area where the college level does a commendable job. If you ever want to see traveling called, check out an NCAA game sometime.

Ticky-Tack fouls: It seems that more ticky-tack fouls are being called than ever before. Cheap blocking calls, a hand on the back, a fingernail making contact with a player’s afro – these are the calls that make you curse out loud. Someone needs to tell the refs that these are grown men on the court. Unless there is some serious contact, the officials need to eat their whistles. For a league trying to increase scoring in order to attract more fan interest, these calls don’t help.

Phantom calls: Those who follow the NBA closely know where I’m going with this. The clean block that’s ruled a foul. The defender whose great defense is negated because the offensive player purposely bumps into him and jacks up a bailout with the shot clock winding down. The poor sap who takes a shoulder from Shaq and gets called for the personal. These are the calls officials make on players for something they perceived as occurring, but in actuality it didn’t. For whatever reason, these calls almost always seem to occur at the most crucial moments of a game and often determine the outcome as well. And, unlike the NFL, NBA refs don’t have the benefit of replay to assist them in getting calls right. Oftentimes, the beneficiaries of phantom calls are the players who receive…

Preferential treatment: By far the most common complaint with NBA officiating amongst fans, preferential treatment has been around for a very long time. In short, it refers to the practice of giving star players the benefit of the doubt when it comes to fouls – blowing the whistle on their defenders whereas the average player would not get the call. These days, just looking at someone like Dwayne Wade or Lebron James will get you a personal. Who can forget all the calls Wade got in the Finals a few years back? The NBA has always made it a point to have its officials protect star players. Veteran players also get preferential treatment when they go up against the league’s youngsters. To me, a foul should be a foul no matter who you are. If Lebron truly is a star (and there is no question in my mind that he is bonafide stud), he doesn’t need the officials sending him to the foul line five more times than he already does without any merit. Nor should a guy like the Bulls’ Aaron Gray draw four fouls within ten minutes just because he’s going up against a stiff…uh, correction…veteran like Eddie Curry.

Home court advantage = more calls in your favor: Ever notice how the home team always seems to get more calls in an NBA game? Why is this? Surely, the home team is not always more aggressive than their opposition but hence they get more calls. It truly is one of the NBA’s unexplained phenomena as no other sport bases its officiating on who has home field advantage. This makes pro basketball unique in that their officials have more influence over the outcome of a game than their counterparts in the NFL, NHL, and MLB.

So while David Stern continues his search to find the next Michael Jordan in hopes of returning the NBA to its glory days of the ‘80s and ‘90s, maybe he needs to start a little smaller. It’s often said that the best umpires and officials are the ones whose name aren’t called during the game. Unfortunately, for many NBA die-hards out there, the referees have become household names.