NBA Rumors: Association Acknowledges Blown Calls by Refs in Warriors vs. Thunder In Game 1

By Jenn Loro - 21 May '16 10:04AM

In the closing minutes of the Golden State Warriors' Game 1 loss to Oklahoma City Thunder, basketball spectators obviously noticed Russell Westbrook committing a serious traveling violation before a timeout was called with only 17 seconds left in the game. As a way to compensate for blown call and increase transparency, NBA recently acknowledged the mistake in its two-minute ref review.

"It's an unfortunate miss, but so much was going on in the play and the speed of it," said NBA Senior Vice President of Replay and Referee Operations Joe Borgia as quoted by USA Today Sports.

The NBA exec also mentioned that refs officiating the game on the court missed the call as they failed to get the right angle to make a proper judgment. Referees are often caught in the fast-paced dynamics of the game that it's just practically impossible to officiate basketball perfectly.

It is quite understandable that the league simply wants to increase the level of transparency in its reporting. NBA has improved over the years in terms of owning up to mistakes in officiating reports and post-game reviews. The problem, however, is that a number of players and coaches are certainly against the ref reviews. Dwayne Wade and LeBron James have already made it clear that two-minute reports are sending the wrong message as if only the last two minutes are the only ones that matter.

For Warriors coach Steve Kerr, the whole point of the report is that it's just utterly useless. He was totally enraged while trying to find comfort in the league's recent admission of the missed call.

"I don't like the practice. I appreciate the NBA trying to be transparent, but it's unfair to the officials...They have an impossible job...And there are going to be bad calls both ways, every game...I don't think there's any point, personally, in exposing bad calls," the ex-Bull and Warriors coach said as quoted by ABC News.

As for the Thunders, Coach Billy Donovan just simply wants to move on and just avoid discussing details of their opponent's last quarter frustrations on the hardcourt.

"We just kept playing, and that's what you've got to do. They're capable of going on huge runs and you've got to be able to withstand that emotionally...and keep your focus and come back on whatever the next play is, offense or defense, with the same level of intensity and enthusiasm," the Thunder coach said as quoted in a report by NBA.Com.