The Chicago Bulls are doing everything they can this week to be the most lovable team in basketball. Have you ever wanted to see a player punch a referee in the solar plexus and get away with it? Of course you have. Have you ever wanted that ref to be Dan Crawford? Well, watch and enjoy.


Judging by Crawford's history with the Mavericks, something tells me that Mark Cuban has been watching this video on loop for the last few hours, possibly while going through a week's supply of hand cream.

If I was an NBA ref, I'd be worried. The players are clearly becoming more sophisticated in how they seek revenge. Boozer wasn't even given a technical here. Still, I gotta admit, Crawford took the punch like a champ. Other referees haven't withstood such "accidental" blows with nearly the same level of dignity.

You may remember this gem from January, when Caron Butler took down Derek "Glass Joe" Richardson.


If I live a hundred years, I'll still find that video funny.

Refs everywhere beware. They're coming for you. Players like LeBron may cry out to you guys for protection, but who will protect the protectors? When you think of it, referees are just regular guys with whistles surrounded by giants. When things go bad, and signs are it's already happening, it's gonna take a lot more than a high pitched piece of plastic to save them.