“We Don’t Publicize Discipline for Officials”: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Opens Up About the Repercussions of Bad Calls on Referees

The dismay with refereeing in the NBA has risen manyfold in recent years. With the advancement in technology and multiple sports changing the way refereeing is done, the bad calls in NBA stand in stark contrast to the modernization of the world of sports. In all honesty, the NBA’s rules of review and refereeing are still primitive.

There are too many bad calls on a regular basis. Even the manner in which Technical fouls are levied at players has been under a lot of scrutiny lately. With the level of officiating clearly under duress, there is extra stress on the NBA to explain the governance and the aftermath of questionable calls.

Adam Silver, in a recent interview with ESPN’s Sage Steele, responded to the recent flurry of criticism on refereeing. He revealed a few factors that go into governing the officiating side of the league.

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Adam Silver Reveals the aftermath of bad calls on NBA officials

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently spoke to the ESPN in light of an increase in bad calls. Silver ensured the media that the league is cognizant of poor officiating and takes proper steps to resolve such issues. Silver also confessed that though the punishments are not released to the public, referees get assignments based on their performance.

Silver: “We don’t publicize discipline for officials. We don’t think that will be appropriate. But their assignments are affected by the quality of their calls, whether or not they progress into the playoffs and then round by round is impacted by the accuracy of their calls and their demeanor on the floor. So there is a system for overseeing and making those judgments about officials. But more to your earlier point about getting the calls right, that’s again not a new issue.”

Missed foul call during Lakers vs Boston game started the criticism

Though officiating has always been an important issue for players and fans, the NBA has rarely acknowledged the poor calls made by their officials. However, it all changed when LeBron James was fouled in the final seconds of the game against the Celtics and the Lakers eventually lost the game. LeBron’s disappointment coupled with the lashing out from fans has forced Silver to acknowledge the issue at hand.

Silver further discussed the Lakers vs Boston game:

“I know some people in that particular call you mentioned in that Celtics-Lakers game were upset that there was no opportunity for replay. Many people focused on the coach not having another challenge. But remember in our league, you can’t challenge a non-call. And there’s a lot of difficulty there when you get into non-call. You could suggest every moment of a game is a non-call when a call isn’t being made in a way.”

Perhaps Silver is right about the difficulty of making these calls. The NBA allows only one challenge per game to each team regardless of the success or failure of that call. So. if you have already used it once successfully and there is a crucial juncture where your player is fouled again, the coach is incapable of doing anything.

This is unfair. Even if there is one challenge per team, it should not be counted if the challenge is successful. There are many sports that have clearly benefited from this rule. However, the only issue with this change would be the increased time of play.

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