NBA referee Joe DeRosa, in his 18th season as a ref in the Association, may be in some pretty hot water with commissioner David Stern, after getting into an altercation with an enraged Magic fan during halftime of game two of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The incident itself seemed harmless enough–DeRosa, having grown tired of the earful he was getting from one fan in particular , tossed a basketball at the very guy unleashing the verbal barrage.  Buddy caught the ball and deftly threw it back to DeRosa, who then called for security to have the guy tossed.  Whether security actually escorted the individual out or not is unknown at this time, at least to me.  What is known is that Joe DeRosa crossed the line…a line he’s usually keeping players from crossing themselves with their boorish antics.

The life of an NBA ref is a low-paying well-paying but unglamorous one, filled with abuse, insults and venom from players, coaches and fans.  It comes with the territory, and referees know this.  Sure, I bet most of them at one time or another have fantasized about laying out some expletive-spewing, half drunk asshole (or, as he’s known in the league, Ron Artest), but they don’t because they know better than to give in to that urge.  They are supposed to hold themselves to a higher standard than players, coaches and fans.  For one brief moment DeRosa did not…and methinks he’s going to have some time to think about what he did, courtesy of his boss, Mr.Stern.

And is it just me, or did that heckler look a lot like an older, fatter version of Mark Price?

H/T You Been Blinded]