A general view of the exterior of AmericanAirlines Arena before Game Two of the 2013 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs at AmericanAirlines Arena on June 9, 2013 in Miami, Florida.
MIAMI— Joey Crawford, whose controversial ejection of Tim Duncan in 2007 led to the referee’s suspension, will work an NBA finals game involving San Antonio for the first time since his run-in with Duncan.
Crawford, who has been a NBA referee since 1977, was one of three officials named to work game two of the NBA finals between San Antonio and Miami on Sunday night.
Crawford tossed San Antonio forward Duncan from a regular-season game against Dallas six years ago for laughing while sitting on the bench.
Duncan complained and later said that Crawford challenged him to a fight.
Commissioner David Stern suspended Crawford for the remainder of the regular season and all of the playoffs.
Crawford will be joined on Sunday’s officiating crew by Ed Malloy and Ken Mauer.
San Antonio was looking to take a 2-0 series lead over the defending NBA champion Heat with a win in game two at the American Airlines arena.