Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors seem to be having a tough time at the moment. And why wouldn’t they? Not only is the competition steeper than it was than their title run last season, but they also didn’t come into the NBA with the greatest momentum behind them, with Andrew Wiggins even famously only returning to the team after a long time away in the playoffs.
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With all that in mind, if the Warriors want to repeat as NBA champions this season, they need all the help they can get. And as you’d expect, a significant part of that is at least getting a fair whistle from the officials. And yet, as proof shows yet again, the team isn’t even being granted that much.
During game 2 of Golden State Warriors vs Sacramento Kings, Stephen Curry went up for one of his routine threes. And well, let’s just say the sideline official should probably not have any job that require the use of one’s eyes after his flub up on this one.
Official looks right at Stephen Curry’s feet and still decides that everything is fine
Stephen Curry famously gets no foul calls whatsoever. It’s almost like the man somehow managed to murder the family of each and every official in the NBA, and now they’re letting all his opponents beat on him for fun.
Of course, this is no new phenomenon. Even when it happened back in the 2022 NBA Finals, it wasn’t anything new or shocking. And frankly, that’s something the NBA community needs to address far more than it has already.
That said, even this egregious moment was a bit more covered in grey than what happened in game 2 against the Kings. Just take a look at the clip in the tweet below.
Ridiculous no call as Len does not allow Curry to land. I thought maybe the ref followed the ball, but he’s staring right at the play. pic.twitter.com/Kc7Nkfv2aw
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) April 18, 2023
For those who may say that Curry is flailing too much, notice that the defender’s lead foot is where the Warriors star’s original landing spot would have been. And given that Steph is someone who has had his early career plagued by a number of ankle injuries, you could probably imagine why he’d want to avoid another one. After all, this is the kind of foul that would be ruled as a flagrant foul in today’s NBA.
This absolute idiocy needs to change from the officials. The referees in this game are, lead official Zach Zarba, and, the man who missed this obvious call, Courtney Kirkland. If the Warriors star was to get injured during this game, these are the people that need to be held accountable… or be declared legally blind.
Adam Silver has said many things in the past about making sure officials do their job to the best of their ability. It’s time he took some firing decisions.
Some fan reactions to Courtney Kirkland’s utter and blatant incompetence
malik monk would have gotten that call every time
— Joe (@bruhhh42) April 18, 2023
Thats a damn tech smh
— Designz R Us 🖌 (@DesignzRUs) April 18, 2023
Happens 3-5 times a game
— HennessyMemories (@SOxFARxSOxGOOD) April 18, 2023
Curry never gets the protecting the shooter call. Nothing new.
— Honest Dray6-0 Fan (@DrayRimPressure) April 18, 2023