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“The officials are a problem for the NBA”: Stephen A. Smith cites Devin Booker’s ejection against LeBron James’ Lakers as a case in point for how bad refereeing has been this year

Raahib Singh
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Stephen A.Smith, in the latest episode of First Take, points out how the officiating in the NBA has been troublesome as of late.

The NBA has officially reached its halfway mark for the season. With all the teams done with their first-half schedule, there is a lot of reflection is being done on the first half of the season. There are comparisons made for the MVP ladder, there are talks about rookies. There are playoff predictions, based on the performances the teams have shown so far.

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One constant thing that is popping up on everyone’s list is the quality of officiating this season so far. There have been a lot of calls that seemed unnecessary.

There have been a lot more technicals and ejections for the smallest things possible. All of these things have been bringing down the viewing experience, and Stephen A. talks about the same on First Take.

“These officials are causing a problem”: Stephen A. Smith

In the latest episode of First Take, Stephen A. talks about an issue bothering every NBA fan. He brings up how the officiating this season has been very troublesome.

While making his point, Smith talked about the recent Suns vs Lakers game, where Devin Booker got ejected for no apparent reason. Booker, the brightest star from Phoenix getting ejected, especially in that fashion, takes away half the fun of watching the game.

Stephen A. Smith also discussed the Donovan Mitchell ejection in the Sixers-Jazz game last night. The technical against Mitchell looked uncalled for, which threw him out of the game with around a minute left in overtime.

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Hopefully, the NBA takes this break and talks to their officials and discusses this issue. Some of their calls have been really, egregiously bad decisions this season.

About the author

Raahib Singh

Raahib Singh

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Raahib Singh is an NBA Journalist and Content Strategist at The SportsRush. A Computer Science Engineer by qualification, Raahib's passion for sports drew him towards TSR. He started playing basketball at 14 and has been following the NBA since 2013. His entry into the basketball world perfectly coincided with Stephen Curry putting the league on notice. Having followed the league for a long time, he decided to use his knowledge to become a sportswriter with The SportsRush in 2020. Raahib loves to put up some shots in his spare time, watch Cricket, Formula 1, and/or read a nice thriller.

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