Criticism of NBA Refs Is Getting Increasingly Personal 

It has been a rough week for NBA officiating. 

On Monday, Rockets coach Ime Udoka roasted referees in his postgame press conference following a 128–125 overtime loss to the Nuggets. The NBA’s Last Two Minute Report said there were three incorrect calls in overtime, all of which benefited the Nuggets.

The report said that officials incorrectly called fouls on a clean block Kevin Durant made on a Nikola Jokic shot and an attempted steal by Amen Thompson on Jamal Murray. Both plays resulted in free throws for Denver while the Nuggets’ Tim Hardaway Jr. got away with a shove on Alperen Sengun.

Udoka called it the “most poorly officiated game I’ve seen in a long time.” 

“Two [refs] have no business being out there and crew chief [Zach Zarba] was acting starstruck, so you’re seeing all kinds of inconsistent calls, and I’m sure we should’ve got a few more techs,” Udoka said.

For his comments, the NBA fined Udoka $25,000 on Wednesday. 

Issues between NBA players and coaches with the officials have been simmering for years. But this year, the officials are publicly hitting back.

Udoka’s comments were just the start of a tense week between coaches and officials. 

Cameras caught Timberwolves coach Chris Finch berating Zarba in the final minute of Wednesday’s 116–110 loss to the Grizzlies over multiple missed calls. 

“Shut the fuck up, man,” Finch yelled at Zarba. “You just blew two calls, you did so. You fucking know it. You fucking know it.” 

And on Thursday it was Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s turn to go zebra hunting after multiple technical fouls were issued during a 116–114 loss to the Mavericks in Dallas. Bickerstaff was assessed a technical right after the halftime buzzer sounded and shortly after Ausar Thompson, one of Detroit’s core players, was ejected. 

While not naming crew chief John Goble specifically, Bickerstaff implied the Pistons were not officiated fairly. Bickerstaff also said he wasn’t granted a timeout late in the game when he tried to call one. 

“Night by night, this is how our interactions are,” Goble allegedly said to Bickerstaff. 

“So, that says to me that the referee is coming into the game not being objective,” Bickerstaff said. “That same referee, at halftime, I get my technical foul. I don’t say anything to him. I go to grab Cade [Cunningham] to get Cade off the floor. He gives me a technical foul. That’s my job to get my player away from the referee, get us back to halftime so we can have the conversations that we need to have.

“So, the same referee who comes into the game who’s not objective, and then he goes out and makes those calls,” Bickerstaff continued. “Same referee, if you take a look at the play where he ejects [Thompson], he steps towards [Thompson], right? That’s where the minimal contact happens, where he steps towards him and initiates it.”

In a postgame pool report, Goble told a reporter that Thompson was ejected “for aggressively approaching and making contact with an official” and cited “continuous complaining” as the reason for Bickerstaff’s technical foul. 

Bickerstaff hasn’t been fined by the NBA as of Friday morning. While coaches’ frustrations with officiating are apparent, the refs’ union has been airing its own grievances on its X account this week. The @OfficialNBARefs account attacked Sixers analyst Alaa Abdelnaby for saying during the Sixers–Hawks on Sunday that the Hawks should have been called for a backcourt violation. 

“This was not a backcourt violation and has never been a backcourt violation,” the account posted. “For those calling the game, there is a responsibility to know the NBA rules and explain them correctly in order to properly educate the fans @alaatweets.” 

The post was unusual for an account that only posts about referees assignments for the day’s NBA games and posts that honor specific officials. The NBRA did not respond to a request for comment on the reasoning behind its post. 

Officials came under scrutiny last year for lengthy replay reviews and a seemingly inconsistent standard for what constitutes a foul. Roughly a quarter of the way into this season, tensions haven’t eased.

NBA Official Reinstated

On Friday, the NBA reinstated longtime official Eric Lewis, who retired in August 2023 after nearly 20 years as a referee. The NBA investigated Lewis in May 2023 for a violation of its social media policy after a burner account was discovered that defended Lewis and other officials. The account claimed it was run by Lewis’s brother.

Lewis spent the past two seasons working as a college basketball ref and will return this weekend as a G League referee working the league’s annual showcase in Florida. Lewis underwent what the league called “stress management counseling” and “social media training” as part of his requirements to rejoin the league’s officiating program. 

“While he made a mistake in engaging on social media, our investigation concluded that his behavior did not impact his ability to officiate games fairly and with integrity,” said Byron Spruell, NBA President, League Operations said in a statement announcing Lewis’ return. “We are confident he has learned from that experience and can properly serve the game again, first as an NBA G League official and potentially in a return as an NBA official.”