Taj Gibson: ‘We Got To Call ‘Referee Hotline’ About James Harden Climbing on Defender’s Back
With 1:49 left in overtime of Friday’s Bulls-Rockets game, Michael Carter-Williams was guarding James Harden, who was having a rough night offensively.
Harden climbed on top of Carter-Williams’ back, and the refs called a foul on the Bulls guard—his sixth of the game.
https://youtu.be/ATQ7qGo8CJo
Harden, who held been held to 12-33 from the field, went on score 6 straight points to lead Houston to a 121-117 win.
Afterward, Bulls forward Taj Gibson defended Carter-Williams. Via ESPN:
“[Harden] gets so many calls his way, it’s ridiculous sometimes,” Gibson said. “I guess we got to call ‘referee hotline.’ There were some rough calls late, we had some guys who learned a lot tonight.”
(The “referee hotline” is a real thing. As part of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, NBA players now have a hotline to call to complain about the work of NBA refs.)
Crazily enough, this was not Harden’s first time pulling this particular stunt. He jumped on Jrue Holiday’s back in March of 2016, and Holiday was called for the foul.
https://youtu.be/0zP7haK0DOc
Harden leaned his weight on top of Stephen Curry earlier this season as well.
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