NBA commissioner Adam Silver\u2019s latest take on the league\u2019s officiating has not gone over well with viewers.<\/p>\n
With referees catching major flak during this year\u2019s playoffs for seemingly enabling flopping, particularly from the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder, Silver\u2019s firm backing of the officials left the NBA world in disbelief.<\/p>\n
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NBA World Calls Out Adam Silver for Defending Controversial Officiating<\/p>\n
Speaking on \u201cThe Pat McAfee Show<\/a>,\u201d the commissioner weighed in on multiple league-wide concerns, including flopping.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a conversation. I would only say that there\u2019s a difference between selling a call, exaggeration, and a true flop, which is where you\u2019re actually fooling the referees,\u201d Silver began<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think sometimes even as I sit in the stands at games, players may be falling down, players may be reacting to a call. But then, to me, if they\u2019re not fooling the referees, it\u2019s like, \u2018Okay. That\u2019s like, the players are taught to sell calls these days.\u2019<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, can officiating get better? Of course, we\u2019re always working on that. Can officials get fooled occasionally? We\u2019re always looking at that as well. But the officiating is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n MORE: \u2018It\u2019s Being Taught\u2019 \u2014 Tyrese Haliburton Reveals Grim Truth About NBA\u2019s Flopping Epidemic Amid Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Backlash<\/a><\/p>\n The tail end of Silver\u2019s quote created buzz on X, with the NBA community strongly pushing back.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat games does he watch?\u201d Spurs analyst Michael Rehome asked<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fansided\u2019s Clayton Anderson added<\/a>, \u201cThe fact that Adam Silver is using valuable time to parse out the difference between \u2018selling a call\u2019 and \u2018fooling the refs\/flopping\u2019 is problematic enough for me. Sounds like not enough will be made of it in the immediate future, which will continue a lot of the bad public rhetoric surrounding the @NBA\/@OfficialNBARefs.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cNo way Adam Silver just tried to say \u2018The officiating is incredible,’\u201d Lakers fan account LakeShowYo reacted<\/a>.<\/p>\n Content creator Jon Root responded<\/a> with troubling facts about flopping and concluded by declaring Silver\u2019s take, \u201cAbsolutely insane.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam Silver is either in DENIAL or he\u2019s just flat out LYING. Pat McAfee brought up the OKC Thunder flopping. Silver: \u2018The officiating is incredible,’\u201d Hater Report asserted<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tuesday\u2019s Game 5 Western Conference finals clash between the San Antonio Spurs and OKC featured several questionable calls that many claimed played a role in the Spurs\u2019 127-114 road loss.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The focus was on the refereeing in the third quarter when a missed goaltending call drew fans\u2019 ire. A second-quarter foul called on Dylan Harper<\/a> after the Spurs rookie was elbowed in the throat by Thunder guard Jared McCain<\/a> also sparked controversy. Meanwhile, accusations of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander benefitting from flopping his way to the free-throw line persisted.<\/p>\n Silver noted that an AI-automated system will eventually be put in place to \u201ctake all of those so-called objective calls out of the hands of the referees,\u201d though that likely won\u2019t do anything to quell frustrations about his avid support of this season\u2019s officiating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBA commissioner Adam Silver\u2019s latest take on the league\u2019s officiating has not gone over well with viewers. 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