The NBA playoffs come with an intensified microscope on everyone, referees maybe most of all. Typically an afterthought (with some exceptions) during the regular season, NBA officials tend to be thrust into the limelight in the spring. Seemingly every postseason comes with a new incident or think piece on the sad state of NBA officiating. […]
Partway through a postgame video review within the bowels of the arena, referees Cheryl Flores and Robert Hussey hang their heads in dismay and disbelief over a missed call. Today’s crew is overseen by 10th-year veteran NBA referee Ben Taylor, who has just pointed out the officiating error on a monitor in the locker room. […]
Once statistics for an NBA game have been collected, their lifespan of usefulness is only just beginning. Players rely on them to hone skill development; teams leverage them for game-planning and scouting; fans and media alike use them to build or further a plethora of narratives. The data the NBA collects on its referees is […]
The concept of constant evolution in sports isn’t exclusive to athletes and tactics. It’s central to the men and women who officiate the games as well. Referee mechanics — where to stand, how to move, who makes which calls — weren’t taught uniformly in the NBA until the early 1980s, over 30 years into the […]
Over the last several years, plays like these have become commonplace in the NBA: James Harden, one of the league’s most accomplished and well-known swindlers, sensed just the faintest contact from defender Paul George. Harden instantly brought his off-arm up to accentuate the contact, flailing around until a whistle blew. ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Breen’s […]