The Refs and the NBA Obviously Conspired on Behalf of Wembanyama so Why Has the Media let the Flagrant Dishonesty Drop

Photo by : ajay_suresh

It doesn’t matter what sport or whether the game takes place during the regular season, playoff or the finals, fans always think the refs and the league are against them. This especially when your team loses.  So as a Knick fan why am I complaining? Easy, because there’s been a lot left unsaid, and that’s the real issue.

To start, if your team is in the finals, you want four straight blowouts. No fuss, no muss, you cruise home with the trophy. But for everyone else, seven straight buzzer beaters is the thrill you’re hoping for, and the same goes for the NBA. 

The league’s prestige elevates, attention possibly ensnares a generation and revenues go through the roof. Adam Silver and the owners can all hope, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Of course, hope is never a good strategy, but in this case, it should be the best you can or should do. The NBA obviously decided otherwise.

The Knicks won the first two games, the Spurs won the third and hope for a long series had to have league officials salivating.  Good for them - game four certainly had a specific rooting interest for the higher ups

That said, I have absolutely know idea if the officiating skewed toward the Spurs. I don’t remember because the triumph has completely overshadowed the typical belief that the refs are out to get us.  But they probably were. Sorry, that’s what we fanatics do.

The Wembanyama situation does not fall into the same category, though. Putting aside the flagrant shove on Brunson in game three and the flying kick at OG, the game five flagrant call on Brunson was impossible to miss.

Everyone in the auditorium and millions of people watching at home saw it and knew it. Nonetheless, three refs all focused on the play saw nothing.  How is that possible?

Now, this isn’t the Michael Jordan shove versus Utah or Charles Smith play versus the Bulls in 1993. Those calls could have gone either way - even if fans know they were robbed.

Conversely, the certainty of Wemby’s flagrant was explained by a NBA commentator whose name I can’t remember. “If you were doing a seminar on what that type of foul looks like, this is the video you would watch.”

Of course, I get the position the league was in. How do you suspend the best player on the floor and still call it a series?  I even get it as a Knick fan. Their championship would have been so much less meaningful without Wemby going down for the count with his team. So I’m glad he was there for the Knicks to stick it to him.

On the other hand, I had a thought. Can Wemby just punch Brunson in the face now and smugly walk away. The die cast with no guard rails, how far could this have gone.

And what comes next year since it’s clear the refs were told to look the other way. How does the league maintain it’s integrity if we know they are willing to do more than just hope for seven tightly contested games.

Obviously, the NBA or any other entity cannot police itself, and that’s why we have a media. Has anyone, anywhere asked Adam Silver or the league about the obvious omission. Has an op-ed been written, has ESPN, the Athletic or the New York Post made any sort of commentary. I haven’t seen it.

I guess they know where their bread is buttered and are hopeful that the league will self correct. Wink, Wink, maybe that’s the most pragmatic thing to do. 

Not sure they teach that in journalism school, but what are the actual chances someone gets punched in the face and we’ll all have to pretend it didn’t happen. I don’t know but if this goes unaddressed by even the media, there’s going to be more than a single black eye to deal with.

Bada Bloom