Can’t let this one slide: It’s time NBA expanded reviewable calls
The NBA has another image problem.
And no, I’m not referring to Russell Westbrook’s highly questionable pregame fashion.
I’m cool with Westbrook’s personal look. He wore a Ramones T-shirt before the Thunder blitzkrieg-bopped the Spurs. He heroically gutted the Warriors as a one-man show Monday. To the dismay of grumpy ol’ David Stern, super-cool Russ can wear whatever the heck he wants. I’m talking about the other image of the second-best player in the West. You know the one: Westbrook gliding across the hardwood like a skilled ice skater, slamming his brakes after five or so steps, then calling for a bail-out timeout with 17.2 seconds left and just three points separating two elite teams in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. The nearby sight: Golden State coach Steve Kerr whirling his hands around in the worldwide recognized “Oh my God, he totally traveled!” symbol, then falling to his knees in dismay.
Those are the images Stern failed to fix. They’re the ones new commissioner Adam Silver must wrap his arms around as the Association bounces from one awkwardly embarrassing referee screw-up to the next, via the perfect platform of how-in-the-heck-did-theymiss-that? playoff TV.
The NBA is blowing it at an
alarming rate. And I mean seriously screwing it up.
Games you can’t get back are on the line. Seconds remain. Hundreds of thousands of wide-open eyes are focused on some of the greatest athletes on the planet. Then a few professional officials blatantly ignore what you, me, your dog, Joey Crawford and someone who’s never dribbled a basketball can clearly see.
“It’s an unfortunate miss,” said Joe Borgia, NBA senior vice president of replay and referee operations, acknowledging Westbrook’s forward moonwalk and the league’s sticking its head in the sand again.
Refs have it tough
Here’s the thing: I’m not blaming and never personally fault the refs.
Their job is difficult enough as it is. In a Thunder-Warriors game, the ball moves at hockeypuck speed — there’s so much happening during a single possession that it’s impossible for a few guys to score 100 percent on every televised test.
The NBA has a replay problem in addition to its image problem. And a league that’s long been accused of favoring certain favorable outcomes — rigged lotteries, stars receiving an extra push at just the right time, an old commish axing a trade just because he doesn’t want it to happen — is still exposing its flaws for the whole basketball world to see.
We could talk for eternity about missed calls. I’ll spare you a few lifetimes and just list the latest major atrocities:
• Five blown looks during the disastrous final 13.5 seconds of Game 2 of the Oklahoma City-San Antonio semifinals, including Dion Waiters’ instantly famous wrestling pushoff against Manu Ginobili.
• Westbrook’s breaking free for a late Game 5 layup against the Spurs, despite Kawhi Leonard’s semiembracing him.
• James Harden’s getting away with an offensive pushoff before hitting a Game 3 winner in the Rockets’ only victory against the Warriors in the first round.
The NBA admitted all seven misses were the league’s fault in its postgame confessions, then added Westbrook’s electric slide to its ever-growing list Tuesday. Those lasttwo-minute reports are as useful as a soft towel after a public flogging, only hamstringing the officials, who are endlessly embarrassed every time they miss another game-changer.
So what’s the solution? How does a league — one that for decades has treated traveling like church donations and still can’t figure out whether Harden’s under-and-up move is a cheap ploy or foul-worthy — right a thousand wrongs?
Look over the fence and see what the neighbors are building.
Instant replay is a total drag. But it’s been around for more than 50 years, and even baseball is using it now.
The NFL and MLB obviously don’t have perfect systems (hello, Dez Bryant’s catch). But both leagues blend modern technology with their contemporary games, while pro football gives its coaches little red flags to throw whenever something really goes wrong.
In some pedestrian instances, the NBA does allow in-game review. The league is so proud of its high-tech replay center in New Jersey and being able to tell you exactly who touched a ball last in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter.
But seeing Waiters almost head-butt Ginobili? Knowing that Leonard arm-tackled Westbrook? Not being the dumbest spectator in Oracle Arena and tragically overlooking Russ’ Game 1 glide?
The Association isn’t smart enough for all that.
Too much at stake
It already takes 48 minutes to finish the last 120 seconds of a pro basketball game. You get to move the ball from OKC to Oakland, Calif., just by calling a late timeout. What’s wrong with reviewing a few other critical issues when games, seasons and careers are on the line?
Maybe the blind mice would have paid more attention to Kerr if he had a soft red handkerchief in his pocket.
Then we’d be talking about 1-0 Thunder and how amazing Westbrook is, instead of his sliding shoes and the NBA’s two decadeplus image problem.
If the league really cared, it would do the right thing. It would do everything it could to get the final, most important calls right.