The NBA admitted that its referees blew it when they didn’t whistle Russell Westbrook for a traveling violation in the dying moments of the OKC Thunder’s 105-102 Game 1 win in the Western Conference Finals, and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr can’t figure out what the point of the Last Two Minute Report is.
Kerr feels the practice throws the refs “under the bus”.
Gregg Popovich and other coaches have expressed similar feelings in the past.
Per the AP:
When told that NBA senior vice president for replay and referee operations Joe Borgia went on NBA TV after the game and said Westbrook did drag his pivot foot before calling timeout with 17.2 seconds to play and Oklahoma City leading by three, Kerr let out a sarcastic response.
“Yes! Yes!” he said after practice Tuesday. “Yes, that’s awesome.”
Kerr said he would prefer that the NBA not announce when officials blow calls but he understands why the league does it. […] “I don’t like the practice,” he said. “I appreciate the NBA trying to be transparent, but it’s unfair to the officials. I feel like it throws them under the bus. They have an impossible job. They really do. And there are going to be bad calls both ways every game. They’re never going to be perfect. They’re doing the best they can. I don’t think there’s any point personally in exposing bad calls. It doesn’t serve a purpose to me.”
