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Techs are a rule that the NBA can easily justify. Referees need the ability to keep control of the court, discouraging the kind of unsportsmanlike behaviour that could lead to greater disruptions on the court.
However, an increasing opinion across the league is that referees are wielding the inconsistent rules of the technical fouls like a weapon, punishing players they personally dislike by handing down unwarranted ejections.
By now, most of us have probably heard Jaylen Brown erupting about his first career ejection after Boston's recent win over the Knicks.
While Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was careful to defend Brown without getting too critical of the refs, Brown was clear on the fact that he didn't feel that his reaction to being called for a reach-in against New York's Immanuel Quickley was a valid reason for two technical fouls and a resulting ejection:
"That's for sure to do with somebody having their emotions too involved in whatever else is going on, and they're assessing their power with technical fouls."
As we wait for the NBA to slap the Boston forward with an inevitable fine, it's worth asking whether he's justified in his anger. This is hardly the first time in recent memory we've seen technical fouls becoming a point of controversy: Just last May, the league actually rescinded an unusual tech called on Brown by the ever-controversial Scott Foster.
Speaking of Foster, his longtime nemesis Chris Paul recently accused him of using a tech to get his point across after a personal argument spilled onto the court.
Worse again, it seems that the league is more willing to punish players for pointing these issues out than to actually solve them. Even in the rare situations where the NBA publically rescinds a poor decision, that referee will be out in another game without reprimand.
Are these referees just trying to maintain order on the court, or do they need to be brought into line by the NBA's higher-ups? If they do, what exact actions should be taken?