NBA referees have long been the punching bag for questionable game conclusions. However, this season has seen a plethora of blown calls down the stretch that the league has admitted to being wrong about.
The latest mishap came in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 108-107 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night. Sixers forward Kelly Oubre didn’t get a foul call after Clippers star Paul George made contact with him on his last-second attempt.
The no-call prevented Oubre from going to the line with a chance to take a one-point lead with under one second left in regulation.After the game, the veteran scorer wound up cursing out all three officials, and 76ers head coach Nick Nurse had to be restrained as he gave the refs a piece of his mind.
Both were fined $50,000 for the incident.
But things got interesting when crew chief Kevin Scott came out and admitted the blunder in theirpostgame pool report.
“On the last play on the floor, in real time the crew interpreted that play as the defender jumping vertically. However, in post-game video review we did observe some slight drift to his left by the defender George, and a foul should have been ruled,” Scott noted.
Oubre’s outburst was not the best look for the league but it pales in comparison to how the wrong call further stains the NBA’s reputation this year.
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The way in which referees have openly taken blame for their own errors is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, gave the league an opportunity to correct these faults. However, the fact that the NBA hasn’t done so has bred distrust among the league’s fans.
Commissioner Adam Silver may need to evaluate his officials with the NBA playoffs less than four weeks away.
