A study conducted by Justin Wolfers, an assistant professor of business and public policy at the Wharton School, and Joseph Price, a Cornell graduate student in economics reports that during the 13 seasons from 1991 through 2004, white referees called fouls at a greater rate against black players than against white players. The study also found that black refs called more fouls against white players.
The duo of Wolfers and Price did a lot of research for their study and even submitted the results to the NBA. David Stern had his own team of nerds do some research and they came up with some different results:
“We think our cut at the data is more powerful, more robust, and demonstrates that there is no bias.”
Of course you do Mr. Stern. Unfortunately for Stern the New York Times had 3 independent experts compare the Wolfers-Price paper to the NBA report, and all 3 concluded that the Wolfers and Price study was “far more sound”.
I decided to do my own study and here’s what I discovered:
- Violet Palmer calls fouls against males 100% of the time.
- 12 of the top 20 most foul prone players (min. of 40 games) are black, 5 are foreign born, 3 are white Americans, 2 are O’Neals, 2 are Warriors, 2 are Cavaliers, and 17 are big men (6’9″+).
- Joey Crawford hates Tim Duncan regardless of color.
- Dirk Nowitzki (12) and Chris Kaman (8) led non-blacks in technical fouls.
- Euros don’t foul flagrantly.
- Rasheed Wallace (21 techs) was ejected 1 time while Chucky Atkins (4 techs) was ejected twice.
- I have too much time on my hands.
While I’m poking fun at the study, it does have some interesting information. I can’t wait for the next report: BASEBALL UMPIRES CALL MORE STRIKES AGAINST LATINOS
Study of NBA Sees Racial Bias in Calling Fouls. Thank you The New York Times
NBA players foul statistics. Thank you NBA.com
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