NBA referees have an extremely difficult, and usually thankless, job. They need to run the court with the best athletes in the world and make hundreds of split-second decisions, and if they get one or two wrong, they have to hear about it from players, coaches, and fans endlessly.
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The age of high-definition, slow-motion replay has made refs’ jobs even tougher, because every single play can be broken down frame by frame in crystal-clear detail. It also doesn’t help that many of today’s players spend half the game playing basketball and the other half complaining to the refs over every single call.
On the newest episode of Mind The Game, LeBron James and Steve Nash decided to focus entirely on officiating, but as always, they approached it from a thoughtful and measured point of view. This episode wasn’t meant to bash the refs, but to simply have an open and honest conversation about refereeing trends and things they’ve noticed that could be improved upon.
LeBron brought up an example of a call that made him lose his mind, and it happened when his Lakers played the Spurs back on February 10. Fans might remember that this is the one where all of the Lakers’ stars sat — LeBron, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves — and the Spurs cruised to an easy 136-108 win.
The call in question happened late in the second quarter with the Lakers trailing 70-47. Luke Kennard had just laid the ball in after Stephon Castle had blocked Rui Hachimura’s fast-break dunk attempt, and that’s when things went off the rails.
“What happened was one of the San Antonio players took the ball out,” LeBron explained, “and Wemby came, and he was looking at his teammate, and he grabbed the ball from his teammate while he was still out of bounds. I said, ‘That’s our ball. That’s a violation.'” For those who click the YouTube link above, they can see a video of what Wemby did at the 10:43 mark.
It’s almost comical how Wemby, with his unbelievably long arms, just plucked the ball away and started to dribble up court, but LeBron was right. The ball wasn’t passed in, he simply took it, which isn’t legal since that puts him in contact with the out-of-bounds player. As a streetclothes-clad LeBron lost his mind on the bench, a whistle came from the other end of the court instead.
“The refs from the other end come flying down and said that their coach called a timeout beforehand,” LeBron continued. “I said, ‘There’s no f***** way,’ and they awarded them a timeout.” When play resumed, Wemby glided through the lane and dunked one home with his left hand, adding insult to, well, insult.
That one call didn’t change a game that was already a blowout, but to LeBron, it was indicative of the way players don’t know what they’re going to get from the refs night to night. He didn’t come out and say this, but it’s also fuel for the narrative that Wemby, as the unofficial new face of the league, gets a favorable whistle.
There are certain calls that refs have to make dozens of times in a game, such as making the correct out-of-bounds determination or differentiating between a block and a charge. A player just grabbing the ball from his out-of-bounds teammate is something you never really see, so the simple explanation could be that they just didn’t process what had happened.
Either way, LeBron is right that the NBA needs more consistency in its officiating, especially as the playoffs are looming. Basketball now is more difficult to officiate than it’s ever been, but the best athletes in the world should also be able to play with the knowledge that the refs are on the same level as they are.
