Joey Crawford On The One Thing Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan And Larry Bird Almost Never Did: "They Had More Important Things To Worry About"

NBA referees know the drill with the players. Make a close call and somebody will be in their ear. Don’t make one and somebody else will ask how they missed it. Even when the replay leaves little room for argument, these guys aren’t waving the white flag that easily.

These reactions are understandable to a certain degree. With emotions and adrenaline running high, players will naturally see referees’ calls with cynical pessimism.

Joey Crawford knows this all too well. With 39 years of officiating under his belt, the Hall of Fame referee has seen everything. But amid all the complaining and second-guessing, Crawford noticed three unlikely exceptions. Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird rarely had something to say to him, whether the calls were in their favor ot not.

Magic, Mike, and Larry broke the norm

Besides their obvious basketball prowess, the superstar trio knew how to tread water with the officials. For all the intensity and smack talk associated with the three, getting tossed in games was not part of the package.

Magic, for instance, went 906 games without a single ejection. Jordan was reportedly thrown out only once, following a pair of technicals against the Utah Jazz in 1992. Even at his grumpiest, MJ never accumulated more than five in a season. That was his final season with the Washington Wizards, so let’s just attribute that to old age.

What about Larry? Well, technical fouls weren’t comprehensively recorded during his playing days, but he definitely knew how to handle himself. He fouled out only seven times in 897 career games and averaged only 2.5 fouls per contest.

These guys were such basketball savants that they knew where the line was. And even Crawford could discern that from his point of view.

“I think this is interesting, too: Magic, Michael and Larry. They almost never said anything, good or bad,” Joey told Sam Borden of The New York Times. “Most players in sports believe they actually know something about officiating. And they don’t. But those guys, they very, very rarely said anything to me. Isn’t that amazing?”

“Because there’s three guys that had the ball, what, 75 percent of the time? They had more important things to worry about,” added Crawford.

Crawford’s assessment was spot on. These superstars indeed had more important things to attend to, like leading a team by setting a good example. MJ, for instance, believed going at the officials was futile, especially in a really crucial game.

“At halftime, Mike was real upset because we had an opportunity to lead by nine and he gave the guys a little lecture about poise and control,” Phil Jackson said after Game 7 of the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals.

So, in Jordan’s words, he told his whining teammates to “shut up and play.”

Bird had the same philosophy. In his book “Drive: The Story of My Life,” the three-time MVP explained that he preferred not to dwell on officiating. He also went out of his way to praise the officiating quality of Game 4 of the 1986 NBA Finals. (Interestingly, Crawford made his Finals debut in Game 3 of that series.)

As they say, the key here is picking your battles wisely. There’s just no use crying over spilled milk.

Related: “The American culture is one that glorifies values that I don’t really share” – Ex-NBA player was adamant he wouldn’t continue living in the U.S. after his career ended

A lesson for today’s NBA stars

Three of the sporting world’s biggest superstars ever apparently didn’t see much value in spending energy arguing with the referees. They may disagree with the calls, but rarely at the expense of giving the other team free points.

That’s where the contrast with today’s game becomes noticeable. It’s very common to see stars stay behind today to plead their case while everybody else is running in the other direction. It has become an epidemic and a nasty one at that.

Luka Doncic has done it throughout his career. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar often disengages from the game just to snarl and stare at the referees. LeBron James is likewise highly demonstrative during disagreements, sometimes throwing his arms up or lingering with an official after he believes a call was missed.

That’s not to say today’s players should accept every whistle without a word. But there’s a difference between making your point and allowing an argument over the previous possession to affect the next one. Magic, Mike and Larry surely had their complaints, but apparently knew when to let it go.

Related: “I wanted to know what you two were talking about” – Phil Jackson got a tech for eavesdropping on Joey Crawford and Larry Bird’s conversation

This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Sep 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Source link