The NBA’s Continued Referee Problems
That’s right I said it. Someone has to say it at this point. The NBA continues and will continue to have an NBA ref problem until there is strict accountability taken upon the league. I said Ed Malloy since that in a lot of games called this year, he hasn’t particularly been the most fan or player-favorite referee.
Especially, with the double technical foul recently on Mo Wagner and Karl-Anthony Towns for just expressing common basketball emotion, Malloy has been one of the refs who has been criticized for some of his officiating. On the Wagner and Towns exchange, the two players simply clapped in each others direction and were given technical by Malloy.
TNT commentator Reggie Miller, who was calling the game, said: “Oh come on… Let ‘em! Let ‘em do it. Are you kidding me, Ed Malloy? I don’t like the double-technical here. Let ‘em do it. The is The Cup. This game means something. Let emotion come out. There’s nothing wrong with this. Oh this is all great.” This criticism by Miller is something shared by many fans, players, and coaches across the league.
Another name brought up in this conversation is Scott Foster. Foster has been called by some NBA players as the worst referee in the NBA. His style of making it more about him than the game itself is the primary factor that brings some players to this conclusion. Regardless, we have seen players such as Chris Paul, Fred VanVleet, LaMelo Ball, and Anthony Edwards call out the refs after games and preaching about accountability.
In the league, the refs for some reason get a pass as there is no press conference held for officials after games. A referee postgame press conference would be a beneficial addition to league, as they could be asked about what they saw on the court and their rationale for a call they made.
While there is the Last Two Minute Report, which assesses the calls made in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime, these have been criticized as having no real value/ importance, as the games result cannot be changed even if a bad call is admitted after the fact.
Additionally, when refs make calls that are clearly wrong, there is no demotion or any loss of games as they continue to officiate. This may be a bold statement, but refs not only in the NBA (college and other professional sports) is at an ALL-TIME LOW. The ego and the cockiness of officials damages the reputation of the league and the fabric as well. Hopefully, something gets changed soon.