Fansided

NBA Referees seeking to hide from scrutiny of Last Two Minute reports

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Mar 27, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) argues a call with a ref in the second half of the game against the Houston Rockets at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Indiana Pacers beat the Houston Rockets by the score of 104-101. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 27, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) argues a call with a ref in the second half of the game against the Houston Rockets at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Indiana Pacers beat the Houston Rockets by the score of 104-101. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NBA has had an issue this playoffs with officiating. The Last Two Minute reports have painted an unsavory picture the referees union wants to combat.

Adam Silver came to the NBA as commissioner nearly a year and a half ago and promised more transparency. The way he would run things would be different than the way David Stern ran things. It would be a more open and inclusive conversation for fans and for the league that has often been hit with plenty of accusations of bias, game fixing and conspiracy.

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Perhaps no league faces as much scrutiny for its official than the NBA. And Stern’s smug silence on the matter likely stoked those fires more. The Tim Donaghy allegations and general fandom — always believing the refs are after you and your team — continue to stoke those fires.

Silver wanted to curb it, if not end it.

He created a number of processes to strengthen confidence in officials. There was now a central replay center staffed with working NBA officials reviewing plays. Box scores and game books would reveal which official made the call on each foul.

The biggest piece, though, was a line-by-line review of official performances in the final two minutes of every close game played in the NBA. Fans would know definitively what mistakes were made in these crucial moments or whether the correct call was even made. It was a way to be transparent, improve from mistakes and back up the officiating.

It all sounds so good. As frustrating as they can be, these are the best officials in basketball in the world — watch a college game if you do not believe it.

The Playoffs though have been a black mark on officiating. Game Two between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs was decided on a crazy play that featured several mistakes. You can count them in this 20-minute video breaking down 13.5 seconds:

That game changed that series. Oklahoma City stole home court and won the series in six games. These are big calls.

And even with this bit of transparency, fans and the media are calling more and more for NBA officials to be better. Now they are armed with the backing of the NBA for their criticism.

Obviously NBA officials are not happy. The NBA Referees Association officially called on Silver to end the Last 2-Minute Reports, saying in an official statement:

"The NBRA believes the league’s actions to promote so-called transparency will cause more harm than good for the officials and the game. We call for an end to L2M reporting and other transparency measures and a return to private, league-managed evaluations, reviews, education, training, and discipline for NBA officials."

Among the reasons the Referees Association wants the Last Two Minute reports ended are that transparency in this sense does not change the outcome of games and only encourage “anger and hostility” toward NBA officials. They also feel there is an inadequate appeals process and that rules are interpreted inconsistently.

In some form, it becomes the NBA’s ability to wash its hands of the situation while pushing all the blame on the officials. This may only feed conspiracy theorists more.

The reality is, though, transparency is a good thing. And the NBA officials are only trying to protect themselves here, sheltering them from their mistakes and keeping them free from blame.

Silver and the league office are not backing off his desire for transparency.

This is a battle the referees are not going to win. Nor perhaps should they. The NBA admitting their mistakes, while holding firm on their backing of the results is certainly a way to get public trust and improve officiating.

Of course, the issue only comes in when there is not improvement on previous mistakes. That is where the biggest complaints about officiating have come in the 2016 Playoffs. It is bad call after bad call without correction.

The NBA has an intense review system for its officials. Perhaps that is the process that needs to be reviewed and overhauled.

The goal is to help officials improve and avoid some of the missteps that have plagued the Playoffs and turned the focus on officiating in such an intense way and made the Last Two Minute reports must-read items every day.

Every sport works best when the officials are not a part of the story. And the NBA has made them a part of it in the hope of transparency and o ease the pressure on them.

The officials trying to claim there is no perfection in officiating is a good notion, but not one fans will accept. The league is doing its best to show its warts and improve.

It is the improvement part the league and the referees need to work on next. The league is no longer hiding behind its monolithic doors to protect its officials. It is admitting its mistakes, opening some new doors to criticism.

Repeated mistakes are the league’s enemy, not transparency. To protect themselves the referees are directing their attacks on the wrong actor.

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