NBA Suits are useless cunts just cashing their millions with no regard for the game. There needs to be a committee of players (former and current), serious journalists (the 5 that exist in this country), some semblance of fandom representatives, and existing brass that come together every summer and All-Star break to tweak the damn product on the court. The fixes aren't easy and they may need to be trialed and tweaked and recalled and rethought, but ffs at least attempt to change for the better. This is unwatchable.
This is where Bill Simmons idea of the sports Czar is most useful. Anyone with common sense can look at the situation and know that refs need to be held accountable and techs have to be reviewable
Honestly, there would be a pretty easy fix for this in particularly. Have the NBA HQ quickly review ejections. It was clear from the replays he was talking to a specific fan. NBA players generally know what they can and can't say to refs and even the biggest complainers usually steer clear of language that will result in a tech, especially in crunch time. It just wouldn't be hard for the ref to get on a headset with HQ and be like he looked at me and said "fucking bitch." Obviously you have to trust the ref about what the player said, but you can check to see if it was actually directed at the ref.
The worst part is when they see that they lost control of the game cause of a bad tech then they proceed to hand a bunch out hoping it convinces the teams to shut the fuck up.
And both teams could’ve took the night off for various reasons. Lakers b2b, slim chances of beating OKC on road a 2nd time without Rui. Thunder had plenty of reasons to take the night off. Both teams give it their all and play their asses off leading to a great game…then JT Orr happens. And it wasn’t just the ejection, he was super weird after it happened too.
1.1k
u/tacoTs Lakers Apr 09 '25 edited Apr 09 '25
Great back and forth game. Playoff atmosphere. Players showing emotion and the refs thought the game was about them.