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...restore that lost credibility, without which no professional sport can thrive, the NBA surprised everyone by going way outside the sports world to tap Johnson, who commanded the Army Corps of Engineer's reconstruction efforts in Iraq from 2003 to '04. Johnson, who spent the past 32 years as a combat engineer, has no experience in sports administration and has refereed only the occasional youth game. When asked for his reaction to Johnson's hiring, Hue Hollins, a 27-year NBA official who retired in 2003, says, "I passed out. You'd think you'd hire someone who knows something...
...NBA commissioner David Stern hired Johnson, who retired this spring as the second-highest-ranking engineer in the Army, for his management experience, not his ability to distinguish a charge from a blocking foul. "I've got some work to do to establish some credibility," Johnson, 54, admits. "But let me say something: credibility in this position has nothing to do with my ability to be an expert referee. I believe that in my heart." Johnson insists that he's used to learning on the fly. "Throughout my Army career, I've been promoted and moved around...
...early in Johnson's tenure, Cuban is encouraged. "The biggest challenge the officiating group had was lack of experience in managing high-stress professionals," Cuban writes in an e-mail. "To say [Johnson] has that part mastered is an understatement." In addition to bringing on Johnson, the NBA has changed its management structure, separating referee oversight from its general basketball operations and dedicating a specific person to work with the refs full-time. Johnson occupies a new post in the NBA hierarchy, as senior vice president of referee operations. Former NBA coach and general manager Stu Jackson, who ostensibly oversaw...
...there will be no more lounging in the locker room. "He's made it perfectly clear," says Crawford. "Here are the work rules, buddy." To the military man, it's all about example. "How hypocritical are we if we can't be the model of rule-following in the NBA?" Johnson says...
...some degree, of course, Johnson is enjoying the honeymoon phase of his NBA career. How many times have we seen players break public bread with a new coach after his hiring only to toss it in his face a few months later? And at the end of the day, fans don't care if Mother Teresa is in charge of the refs: if Joey Crawford misses that goal-tending call at the end of a Lakers game or sends Kobe to the showers early, all of Los Angeles will be calling for his head. The refs need more than...