I'm not going to pretend like I am Mr. NBA Know-It-All. I openly admit that I extremely rarely watch any other NBA games, other than my hometown Utah Jazz, because my life is too busy and the league just isn't that likable, as a whole. But I've got a big basketball bone to pick.
NBA officials suck. Terribly.
This has been an issue for as long as I can remember, but here's my question - if everybody knows it's a problem, why hasn't it been fixed? I believe that basketball has the worst officiating of any of the major sports - or at least the highest-profile problems. Traveling is a joke, blown calls run amok and the NBA's infamous Last Two Minute Report is a sorry excuse for admission of guilt. Of course, the NFL has had some issues with the "Catch Rule," the "Tuck Rule" and Major League Baseball has a couple occasional blips on the radar, but NBA referees seem to be most consistently under fire for their screw-ups.
Two instances in recent Utah Jazz games have particularly bothered me. I tweeted about an incident in the Jazz/Hawks game the other night and the tweet got a lot of attention. To my disbelief, basically anyone that responded or retweeted the video agreed with me: this was an atrocity, an absolute joke of a call. Behold.
Example One: Atlanta Haws vs Utah Jazz, 03/21/18
Honestly, what the heck is this?? And they gave them one shot and possession! #ATLatUTA pic.twitter.com/i9WrvukY3D— Aaron Christensen (@atownmania) March 21, 2018
What actually happened: As you can see, Joe Ingles is guarding Taurean Prince as the ball is about to be inbounded. As the Hawks start their play, Prince attempts to cut away from Ingles, placing his hand on Ingles' shoulder. Inexplicably, he hits his head on his own hand, flops egregiously and draws the foul call.
What the refs called: The call was an away-from-the-ball foul on Ingles while the ball was out of bounds, which awarded the Hawks one free throw plus possession of the ball.
Why this is ridiculous: Although there is a minimal amount of contact by Ingles, who has one hand lightly touching Prince, the "contact" is initiated by Prince, who hits himself in his own face! What makes this call even worse is that the NBA reviewed this play in slow motion and confirmed that they got the call right! How on earth can you review this (multiple times, I assume) and still say that this is a foul against Ingles? That's just a straight-up flaw in the system. I do like the review system most of the time, but this makes the process look like a total sham.
Fun fact: This tweet was retweeted by the producer of the popular blooper segment "Shaqtin' a Fool."
Example Two: Utah Jazz vs San Antonio Spurs, 03/23/18
How the heck do you miss sick an important foul @OfficialNBARefs??! #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/mIIyoZBG44— Stephen Schmieg🕸 (@Schmieg__) March 24, 2018
What actually happened: The Jazz were mounting a comeback against the Spurs, late in the fourth quarter. Donovan Mitchell was knocking down threes and Rudy Gobert, as seen here, slammed home two points that tied up the game with only minutes to play. He is hit across the arm by LaMarcus Aldridge (who, admittedly, had himself a heck of a game), which should have sent Gobert to the free throw line to potentially put the Jazz up by one.
What the refs called: Nothing.
Why this is ridiculous: The game ended up going into overtime and the Jazz lost the game. One missed call led to one less possible point, which could have completely influenced the outcome of the game.
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Now. I understand that the refs have a very difficult job. I wouldn't want to do it. I understand that they are not going to get every single call right every single time and that, if every single violation were called, the sport would become completely unwatchable.
However. The Jazz lost both of these games. The Jazz are currently fighting for their playoff lives, despite playing, historically, some of the best basketball in the history of the franchise. Despite going 22-4 in their last 26 games, the Jazz are battling for positioning in the Western Conference and every game counts - especially when two of these losses are coming to the Hawks, who the Jazz should have beaten, and the Spurs, who are now two games ahead of the Jazz in the standings after last night's game. Every win and loss matters right now, and the Jazz cannot afford to be losing due (in part) to poor officiating during crucial moments.
So what can be done?
I understand that neither of these two suggestions will happen, but I'm going to make them anyway.
1. Add a fourth official. As Jazz writer Andy Larsen pointed out on Twitter last night, "This is ... a perfect example of why we need four referees. [One ref is] shielded by Gobert's body and can't tell if the swipe makes contact."
A fourth referee could have provided just that - more visibility on the court. This would vastly help with the ability to have more eyes on the action to ensure that the correct calls are made in real time.
Ideally, a fourth referee should not be necessary because the NBA already has the option to review key plays, but obviously, as discussed in the aforementioned Example One, the review system is subjective and does not always work.
2. Give refs the ability to completely overturn a bad call. In Example One, the refs should have determined that they got the call completely wrong. The should have looked at the tape and said, "You know what? That's a flop. That's not a foul." (Again, the fact that they did review it and still agreed that they got the call right BLOWS MY MIND. What utter nonsense.)
Officials generally do a good job of determining who touched the ball last when under review and they can go back and upgrade or downgrade the severity of a foul, so why does the league keep things the way they are with these missed or non-calls, where they seemingly can't overturn some of these mistakes? I assume that they want to come off looking like they know what they're doing in a kind of We-Were-Right-All-Along sort of way, but if you blow it, I think you ultimately come off looking better confessing your mistake immediately rather than stubbornly maintaining the bad call and admitting wrongdoing a day or two later.
3. Give coaches the opportunity to challenge blown calls. In instances where the refs stick to their guns and do not (or cannot) overturn a poor decision, why not give coaches the opportunity to challenge calls like they can in other sports like the NFL or MLB?
The concept would be the same and the consequences should be similar: each team gets one "challenge" per game. Take, for instance, Example Two. The refs miss a no-call on Aldridge, but Quin Snyder asks to challenge the play. The refs take a look at the tape and determine that there was a missed call, which thereby sends Gobert to the free throw line. If there truly was no contact, the Jazz would be penalized and lose a time-out. If a team has no time-outs remaining, they would not be able to challenge any plays.
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Who stands to benefit from these proposed changes? Most teams, I'd argue. The only people who would be vehemently opposed to my ideas would probably be Warriors, Cavaliers or Chris Paul fans - basically anyone who is used to their team getting the benefit of corrupt officiating. Small-market teams like my Utah Jazz, on the other hand, very rarely (if ever) benefit from bad calls or non-calls, so I think these proposals would add a great degree of parity and fairness to the sport that does not currently exist. I just want to see the best, most accurate and correct competition possible, and the way things are right now, I've seen too many instances of bad officiating to feel comfortable the job these refs are doing.
The Bottom Line
I don't want the league to become over-officiated. I just want it to be officiated correctly.
If LeBron James takes too many steps, I want them to call traveling. If James Harden flops, I don't want him going to the free throw line. If LaMarcus Aldridge smacks Rudy Gobert's arm, I want Rudy at the line with a chance to win the game. And if Michael Jordan pushes off, by gosh, I want my NBA championship banner.
Is that too much to ask?
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