NBA: 4 Things that are degrading its legacy 

#4 Careless application of technicals

Are the referees justified in handing out record high number of technicals and ejections?

There are just too many technicals flaring out of the referees in today's game. The most famous is Joey Crawford's technical on Tim Duncan for laughing on the bench.

I strongly feel that referees having this kind of power is very unhealthy to the nature of the game. Another case when referee Kourtney Kirkland had to be removed from the official rotation this season after he bumped heads with Shaun Livingston on another extremely controversial technical call just substantiates this point.

The refereeing system needs to take a leaf out of the book of FIFA referees and be more tolerant.

Yet another incident when Russel Westbrook was teed up for accidentally throwing the ball in the referee's direction which resulted in hitting him, even though Westbrook profusely apologized and explained the situation to the referee.

Dishing out technicals for ever so slightly "showing up" to the referee, or even at a minute exchange of words or an altercation is literally taking the toughness out of the sport.

It almost feels like the referees are looking for actions that they take offence with instead of trying to understand the emotional matchups and letting the game flow in its own pace.

There have to be certain limitations to the freedom that a referee enjoys. A system of checks and balances has to be present, which is why referees and technicals are of paramount importance, but it is when they take advantage or get complacent about the level of powers that they possess, that it when a situation arises like there is today.

A time where fans and players alike disrespect referees more than any individual players or associations, that is a sad moment in the illustrious history of the NBA indeed.