The NBA Officials Feelings Are Hurt Because The League Keeps Telling The Fans When They Are Wrong

YardBarker- Now, the National Basketball Referees Association is calling for the NBA to end Last Two Minute reporting, or L2M, which the league uses as a means of transparency as part of the overall officiating process. In regards to this, the NBRA cites that the league’s goal of transparency accomplishes little to impact and change the outcome of games, while it incites unnecessary hostility towards referees. They also cite L2M reporting promotes less game-oriented officiating and a heavier focus on stat-oriented officiating, which hinders the referees’ abilities to perform at a more consistent level.

“The NBRA believes the league’s actions to promote so-called transparency will cause more harm than good for the ofcials 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. Should the NBA reject the NBRA’s call and press forward with L2M reporting, it is critical that the current process be reformed to improve its accuracy and minimize the damage and divisiveness it is causing.”



​They say the best compliment you can give an official is that they maintain a relative amount of invisibility. By "they" I mean myself, and by invisibility I mean that they do everything in their power to avoid making the game about them. That's why it's fairly ironic that they choose the eve of Game 3 of the NBA Finals to start whining about how they are treated when they screw up. This is what registered to me when I read the statement above...

"Hey Adam Silver, I know there's only a couple games left in the season and we should be focusing on painting professional basketball in a positive light,  but I think we need to do something about the scrutiny that we - as the least important people on the court - face when we blatantly fuck up and make ourselves the most important people on the court. Not sure if you heard, but the internet can be a really, really mean place, and I'm not sure our psyches can take another week of verbal abuse."

The worst part about this story? The fact that they are probably right. The NBA should stop finger pointing the morning after every terrible, game changing call that their officiating crews are responsible for. Not because I give a shit about refs crying into their keyboard while scrolling though Twitter, but because it just creates more negativity around the sport. Trust that the viewers know EXACTLY when negligent officiating is taking away from the product on the floor, and trust that they get all their frustrations out in the moments immediately following said negligent officiating. It's 2016. We all have short attention spans. Reinforcing the fans belief that the refs suck the next day just gives them another opportunity to rip the NBA and re-invites the scrutiny that most have already gotten out of their system.  That doesn't mean I think the officials shouldn't be criticized. It just means that we - as the fans - don't need the league that employs them to tell us when it's okay. Especially when the calls they have been butchering are so comically obvious.