In basketball, an official, (also called a referee in some parts of the US), enforces the rules and maintains order during the game. The title of official also applies to the scorers and timekeepers, as well as other personnel that have an active task in maintaining the game.
Rarely in the world of sports there has been a unanimous opinion or overview regarding a subject among fans and experts, but there seems to be a solid consensus when it comes to referees officiating games in the past and now.
Officials used to tolerate a lot more back in the day, we all remember the NBA physical days of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s with Dennis Rodman and Bill Laimbeer. Well, that attitude has changed so much that some fans say it has become intolerable to watch for those who have been following the NBA since the 90’s and, as it has been reported by at least seventeen sports news outlets in the US alone, there is officially a refereeing crisis going on.
TWO STARS EJECTED FOR NO APPARENT REASON
Before providing any stats, recently there was a striking example during a game between the Brooklyn Nets and the the L.A. Lakers last week. It was a must-see basketball game, which was going well, up until the referees ruined it. At about 9:41 going into the third quarter in a four point game, Nets star Kyrie Irving was charged with a reach-in foul. Clearly upset about the call, Irving started to jaw with Lakers point guard Denis Schröder and the two were locked in a heated exchange. As you continue to read, keep in mind that these players had never been ejected in their careers before.
Well, within two minutes after they started “exchanging a few words on the court”, they were both ejected from the game for merely talking. The worst thing they did was …open their mouths? It was clear whatever had been said wasn’t going to result in a brawl. The officials just ruined another prime-time game and live rivalry, which is what fans love the most.
Some sports media outlets have reported that it was the eleventh time, bear in mind, this season alone, that fans, journalists and former athletes said that the referees ruined the game.
According to sports phycologists a “pick a bit of a harmless fight” during a game makes it at least ten times more exciting to watch, because physiologically in the everyone’s mind a game reflects a battle, rivalry, geographical differences and therefore intensive competition. And when a referee stops that for no reason, the intensity vanishes.
Another interesting aspect is the crowd. When they don’t like the attitude of a referee they chant “REF YOU SUCK!”, and that line has been often present since 2018, according to the NBA who has confirmed such trend. Fans specifically hate ejections and “soft” regular calls.
ESPN last Monday reported that back in the “physical contact NBA era”, that is, in the 80’s and the 90’s we seldom heard the crowd disapprove of the referees.
We have drawn a simple official statistics chart of regular calls, technical fouls, and ejections during a game, comparing figures from 1980 to 2018:
FROM 1980 TO 2018 COMPARISON
- Techinical Fouls - 49% Increase
- Ejections - 51% Increase
- Regular Calls - 71% Increase
Source: NBRA 2020
I guess the only position to take on this matter would be to hope that games are both focused on basketball but also more fluid.
