The NBA has an officiating problem. That is, at least, if you listen to many of the head coaches around the association this season.
In a year that should be defined by stories like the Denver Nuggets’ pursuit of back-to-back championships, the rise of the young Oklahoma City Thunder, and Joel Embiid’s title pursuit with the Philadelphia 76ers, it feels like there’s a coach raging about skewed officiating seemingly every other night. Unfortunately, such a saga will often take precedence over more compelling on-court stories about some of the league’s better teams and brighter stars.
We’re over halfway into this NBA regular season, and we’ve already got more than a few doozies where coaches publicly ripped referees. Let’s take a look at some of the more high-profile incidents (so far).