‘Integrity problems’ plague NBA, Instant replay sometimes too late
As Jrue Holiday powered through the lane to the hoop, Devin Booker was wrapped around him like an overcoat. It was an obvious foul, and it would have been No. 6 and a game ender for the Phoenix Suns’ most prolific scorer.
But the foul wasn’t called.
Immediately, Twitter blew up with “The NBA is rigged.” This league has been a harbor for conspiracy theories for three decades at least. It’s accepted in every sport that officials make mistakes. But only in the National Basketball Association are their errors thought to be, at times, intentional.
Conspiracy theory, as adapted to the Suns: Phoenix is a booming sun-belt city, whereas Milwaukee is rust-belt crumbling. Rising Phoenix is better for NBA business (TV ratings, advertising, merchandizing) than old Milwaukee. So Game 4 of the NBA Finals had to be shaded in favor of Phoenix, the bigger market. The last thing the NBA office wants is for the Suns’ most telegenic star to foul out.
And thanks to Tim Donaghy, the referee who was jailed for a year after “fixing” games in 2003-2007, some tweeters wonder if James Capers was betting on this one. Donaghy has said many NBA refs do that, and he specifically, if somewhat cryptically, implicated Scott Foster, who’s among the officials rotating through this year’s Finals.
Granted, Donaghy is hardly the most reliable of sources, even though he’s the ultimate “whistleblower.” At any rate he’s blown enough smoke to create at least the illusion of a fire.
After the Game 4 debacle, Kevin Blackistone of ESPN’s Around the Horn spoke of “a lot of integrity problems with the NBA.”
Capers admitted he blew the call: “During live play, I saw a clean sweep of the ball, but after seeing the replay, I realize I missed Booker’s right arm around the waist of Holiday.”
He also missed Booker’s left arm hacking Holiday’s left shoulder.
Luckily for Milwaukee – and perhaps for Capers — Giannis Antetokounmpo converted Holiday’s missed layup. The Greek Freak’s putback pulled the Bucks within one point, 95-94. And though Booker was able to stay in the game and commit another uncalled foul and score two more baskets, for a 42-point night, the Bucks went on to win by 6.
Despite missing a wakeup call in Phoenix on Saturday night and yielding another 40 to Booker, the Bucks won Game 5 — 123-119. That earned them a 3-2 lead in the series and set up an elimination game in Milwaukee on Tuesday night.
In the 1980s and ‘90s, when David Stern was commissioner, there was constant chatter in media rooms about how the NBA wants the playoffs to turn out. Those of us who covered the league on a daily basis saw or heard of the heavy hand of David Stern: “He doesn’t want Portland to be in the Finals because it would destroy the ratings. . . . Stern thinks Lakers-Celtics would be a bonanza.”
As one NBA Draft approached, Jim Rome dared to ask Stern on nationwide radio: “Is the fix in for New Orleans?”
I’ve been a beat reporter on all four major team sports, and the NBA is the only league I’ve heard suspected of being directly manipulated by its commissioner. To be fair to Adam Silver, he’s not as clouded by suspicion as his predecessor, but he can’t entirely escape history.
It was said in the media rooms – and years later confirmed by Donaghy – that the officials were often instructed to “let the stars shine.” Above all, don’t let them foul out. It’s reasonable to wonder if Capers and his crew were protecting Devin Booker, but the way I interpret the unwritten rules, Booker has to be older than 24 to deserve the full star treatment.
Whether intentional or not (I lean toward unintentional), the game was turned into travesty by a grievous no-call. The chant “Ref-rees suck” rang out through the closing minutes in the Fiserv Forum, before giving way to “Bucks in Six.”
Instant replay is generally overused in the NBA (reducing the game’s greatest assets, brisk pace and timely conclusion), but it was needed here. Capers should not have waited until after the game to have his first look at the replay. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer would have challenged the play and triggered a review of it, but a Coach’s Challenge is not allowed for a no-call.
The rulebook must be rewritten so that an obvious and crucial error like this one doesn’t go unchallenged into history. Otherwise, the NBA’s everlasting integrity problems will continue.
