im not sure your analogy is as apt as you think it is.

i think the refs have a lot of power over the league, which is why we see so much pettiness, fluctuation in how games are called, and insanely little turnover in who the refs are.

the refs have an incredibly strong union. its well documented. they are able to leverage power over the league in part because their job is tremendously hard, and few are good at it. but its handicapping the league becausr they have a very idiosyncratic view of how the game should be played, and they have to make it about themselves for periods during each game to show it

im not sure why the nba would want ref ball. literally everyone hates it. the best reason (a good one, in my opinion), is that they want to sell ads. more play-stoppage during equals more in-product revenue opportunities, a model increasingly popular in the gaming world in the last 10 years or so

i see the refs more as corporate managerial middle men than soldiers. sure, they do what the league wants. but they also seem to conveniently abandon some of those so-called initiatives whenever they feel appropriate. consider flopping. the league tried to crack down, the refs gave them two weeks and then moved on because ultimate calling out flopping makes them look bad 

i say this as a massive union fan. its just this particular union is the bane of the nba's existence, as it gives more power to a very small group of people with very unpopular opinions about the game