NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Says The Leagues Referees Are Disciplined In Errors They Make

Last month, a Lakers vs Celtics game ended on a sour note when the refs missed an obvious foul that should have been called. It doesn’t help that it was against of, if not the leagues most well known player, LeBron James. He went up for a layup and was blatantly hit across the arm by Boston’s Jayson Tatum and James was irate afterwards. That’s what has lead to the most recent statement from Commissioner Adam Silver regarding discipline of the leagues officials. 

Silver emphasized that officials are “absolutely held accountable” when it comes to being disciplined for wrong or missed calls. The missed call on James back on 1/28 was a game that was stolen from the Lakers. James should have absolutely went to the free-throw line.

Finding the right balance between on-court decisions and going to the replay monitor to make the right call is a tough act to balance. Nobody wants to see the game be slowed down by officials constantly checking their calls, but fans also do not want their teams to be screwed over as well.

Adam Silver says NBA officials are disciplined for making errors

“We don’t publicize discipline for officials. We don’t think that will be appropriate,”

(Via ESPN) pic.twitter.com/HxWB6c6xLw

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 17, 2023

League officials are disciplined for missed calls according to Commissioner Adam Silver

In response to missed calls being a large topic of conversation in recent week in the NBA, Commissioner Silver felt it was time to make a public statement. He mentioned how they do not publicly discipline their officials, but it does effect the assignments that they get going forward.

Silver mentioned which games they work in the season depends on the quality of their calls. The best referees move on into the playoffs and so forth. Leaving the best officials calling the biggest games on the year; the NBA Finals. He also pointed out how their is a system that oversees all of this and the judgments that the refs are making.

Of course Silver also addressed the huge missed call on LeBron when he was playing Boston about a month ago. He had this to say.

“Many people focused on the coach not having another challenge. But remember in our league, you can’t challenge a non-call. And there’s a lot of difficulty there when you get into non-call. You could suggest every moment of a game is a non-call when a call isn’t being made in a way.” – Adam Silver

It’s virtually impossible to get every single call correct in an NBA game without slowing the game down to a minuscule pace. Basketball is supposed to be a fast-paced game for a reason and instant replay’s have stopped that in a way. The league and the players association need to find a happy medium where it works for everyone.