A pretty common complaint in the NBA right now revolves around officiating. Basically, referees have to toe a really thin line between imposing themselves on a game and not letting things get away from them, and while it’s a difficult job, the criticism of how they do it sure seems to be louder than ever from fans, coaches, and players.
On Saturday, we got a pretty good example of a referee getting a little too carried away in a situation. During the Atlanta Hawks’ game against the Brooklyn Nets, Hawks guard Dejounte Murray went to the bench after a timeout was called by Quin Snyder. One of the referees, Tony Brothers, wanted to say something to Murray, but he wasn’t having it, so he looked away and made a gesture with his hand. Brothers didn’t like this, so he hit Murray with a technical foul.
Tony Brothers tries to talk to Dejounte, who blew him off and hit him with a tech. Come on bro! pic.twitter.com/yibX0sqs6V
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) March 2, 2024
It’s unclear if literally anything else happened here, but this is not an especially good look for Brothers, who really does look like he was way too punitive towards a player who didn’t want to have a conversation with him during a timeout. We’ll let you know if either Murray or Brothers discusses this at all.
Brooklyn went on to win the game, 114-102.