Dallas Mavericks public address announcer Sean Heath has been suspended for two games by the NBA after a series of tweets criticizing the league.
The story began when Dallas, currently clinging to the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoff race, lost an overtime game to the Golden State Warriors on April 1. The day after the 122-120 Mavericks loss, league officials acknowledged that Warriors center Jermaine O'Neal should have been called for goaltending when he blocked a Dallas shot attempt that would have put the Mavs ahead with 16 seconds left in overtime.
After the game, Heath turned to Twitter to publicly accuse the the NBA of being rigged. Danny Crawford, who is mentioned in the tweets, is one of the officials who worked the Dallas Golden State game.
@nba Danny Crawford just blew a goaltending call and cost the Mavs a game. We will all be awaiting your apology. #pathetic
— Sean Heath (@theseanheath) April 2, 2014
@mdug @sribb43 @mdug Agreed. Maybe we should let the Warriors get their OWN stops without help from the officials.
— Sean Heath (@theseanheath) April 2, 2014
@nba If you have the technology to get calls right, we'd all LOVE to see it implemented as soon as possible. These. Games. Matter. #thefans
— Sean Heath (@theseanheath) April 2, 2014
@nba : The ONLY professional league in the US with the reputation that the games are rigged. Know why? Because of games like tonight. #shame
— Sean Heath (@theseanheath) April 2, 2014
On Thursday the league announced Heath would be suspended for two games, but according to ESPN granted a request from the Mavs to postpone the suspension for one game to give the team time to find a suitable replacement. According to ESPN, Heath is known for his "high volume and passion."
With the season winding down, Heath will miss the team's final regular season game and then either the first playoff game or the team's home opener next year should Dallas fail to make the playoffs.
