Tim Duncan vs. Joe Crawford

If you didn't see what happened the other night between Tim Duncan and NBA referee Joe Crawford during the Spurs - Mavs game, take a look at this. If you did see it, take another look:

Will someone explain to me what Joe Crawford was thinking? Now, I heard he has some history with Duncan, but does anything Duncan could have done evoke this kind of response? I argue HELL NO! I think Joe Crawford was out of his mind, maybe had a fight with the wife, maybe his kid told him he hated him, but still. Tim Duncan is a player with a seriously high level of integrity in the NBA. Joe Crawford is an official with the same kind of integrity, but this incident, and the way Crawford appeared to react (with such intent) makes me question him, and only have more respect for Duncan.

Duncan handled this situation, which is ridiculous by the way, with a great attitude as far as the NBA should be concerned. He didn't argue, didn't try to "show up" the refs at all, just simply walked out, calmly. I'm sure he knew it was ridiculous, but even so, he was poised. No action was or should be taken against Duncan. Really, what did he do wrong anyways?

I'm going to go ahead and agree with Jim Rome on this one:

Since when has the NBA turned into the No Fun League? It's even beyond that. This is confining the expression of the players. Any competitive person knows that many actions in the heat of competition are irrational and driven by the intensity. From what I see, Tim was relaxing, just laughing with his teammates like everybody does. Maybe he was mocking the refs, but since when has that been outlawed? David Stern apparently agrees, because Mr. Crawford has been suspended indefinitely. As far as I'm concerned, that punishment has merit.