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Devin Booker blasted referee James Williams and the NBA league office for poor officating. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\nDevin Booker didn\u2019t hold back Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
The Suns\u2019 star player fumed after being assessed a third-quarter technical foul that confused everyone, including the broadcasters, in Phoenix\u2019s 120-107 Game 2 loss to the Thunder to fall into a 2-0 series hole.<\/p>\n
Booker attempted to save the ball from going out of bounds and appeared to be given a technical foul for hitting Oklahoma City\u2019s Jaylin Williams with the ball in the process.<\/p>\n
Devin Booker blasted referee James Williams and the NBA league office for poor officating. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Booker claimed that the Thunder\u2019s Alex Caruso influenced the ref into assessing the technical.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely something that has to be looked at. I heard Caruso tell them to call the tech and he ended up doing it,\u201d Booker told reporters after the game. \u201cIn my 11 years, I haven\u2019t called a ref out by name, but James [Williams] was terrible tonight, through and through. It\u2019s bad for the sport, bad for the integrity of the sport. People are going to start viewing this as the WWE if they\u2019re not held responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caruso could be seen yelling something toward the referees, while motioning for a technical foul call.<\/p>\n
The ESPN broadcast team was baffled by the decision to assess Booker with a technical foul.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re just calling it on that? Booker was trying to save it, and because of how he saved the ball, it hit Jay Williams. They\u2019re calling a technical foul on that? He\u2019s just trying to save the ball,\u201d Dave Pasch said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy is that a tech?\u201d analyst Doris Burke added.<\/p>\n
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James Williams did a terrible job on Wednesday night, according to Devin Booker. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I haven\u2019t won a championship in this league, but I have been in it for 11 years now, so to get to this point to be treated like that, for me to even be saying something out loud, it\u2019s bad,\u201d Booker said. \u201cIt\u2019s my first time in 11 years but it\u2019s needed. Whatever, I get fined for it, everybody can pull the clips and see where the frustration comes from.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teammate Dillon Brooks told reporters \u201cthey should be interviewing the officials\u201d and not the players, which reporters are not allowed to do aside from a pool reporter in certain situations.<\/p>\n
Typically, an assessment of the officiating<\/a> comes out after each game, though one was not available at the time of writing.<\/p>\n Social media has been ablaze with controversy regarding the refereeing in the game.<\/p>\n The Thunder \u2014\u00a0the No. 1 seed in the West and the defending NBA champs \u2014\u00a0have shot 48 free throws in the series compared to 40 for the Suns.<\/p>\n One social media post<\/a>\u00a0called out Chet Holmgren for getting a favorable whistle as he got a Suns defender to jump in the air on a pump fake, though the whistle was arguably unwarranted due to what the user described as Holmgren\u2019s wildly \u201cunnatural shooting motion,\u201d which would negate the defensive foul.<\/p>\n Holmgren induced the foul call, but Booker was not given the same favor earlier in the game.<\/p>\n