Dallas Mavericks PA announcer Sean Heath was suspended two games for being critical of officials on Twitter. Heath, who (as of this writing) has a whopping 639 followers, was scheduled to miss Saturday’s game with the Phoenix Suns and either the first game of the NBA playoffs or the first game of the 2014-15 season. Heath had his suspension rescinded by the NBA, but the Mavericks were still fined $25,000 for his comments.
What exactly was Heath’s big Twitter faux pas? These tweets, apparently.
https://twitter.com/theseanheath/statuses/451196442695065601
https://twitter.com/theseanheath/statuses/451201637697081344
https://twitter.com/theseanheath/statuses/451210413854560256
https://twitter.com/theseanheath/statuses/451221758029201409
Suspending Heath for two games for those relatively tame tweets was a pretty weak move by the NBA. I don’t even know what’s so bad about the one urging the league to use technology to ensure calls are correct – that’s a viewpoint shared by nearly everyone.
It’s also a little petty to go after a team’s PA announcer. He’s not a player, an executive, a coach, or someone that has much pull at all with fans and people inside the league. What’s next, are ballboys and trainers going to be disciplined by the league when they get angry at referees on Twitter?
[ESPN]
