This is the ‘Worst Officiating’ Call that Led the Dallas Mavericks to File a Formal Protest With the NBA
A bizarre turn of events occurred in Thursday night’s game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Golden State Warriors, leading to Mavericks owner Mark Cuban calling it the “worst officiating non-call mistake.”
Late in the third quarter of the contest, fans became confused when the referees gave the ball to the Warriors to inbound, rather Dallas. All five Mavericks players were set up under their basket on the other side of the floor, but instead gave the ball to Golden State, leading to an easy two points.
And those two points were the difference in the contest — the Warriors beat the Mavericks 127-125, a two-point difference. After the game, The Athletic‘s Shams Charania reported that Dallas will formally challenge the result of the contest. He wrote:
The Dallas Mavericks plan to file to the NBA a formal protest of their 127-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors tonight, with focus on the alleged referee mistake that led to two free Warriors points late in the third quarter, source tells @TheAthletic @Stadium.
Cuban made remarks about the strange play, clarifying why his team was at the wrong end of the floor. In a tweet, he wrote:
For those wondering about the play with 1:54 to go on the 3rd, let me explain what happened. The ref called Mavs ball. The announcer announced it. Then there was a timeout. During the time out the official changed the call and never told us. Then when they saw us line up as if it were our ball, he just gave the ball to the warriors. Never said a word to us. They got an easy basketball (sic).
Crazy that it would matter in a 2 point game. Worst officiating non call mistake possibly in the history of the NBA. All they had to do was tell us and they didn’t.
https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/1638726798698586116?s=20
He backed his claim with a tweet of the screenshot of the court before the ball was inbounded. He wrote, “only two refs were on that side of the court and we had 2 guys at half court going to in bound. The other ref obviously thought it was our ball as well.”
https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/1638746193336360962?s=20
The crew chief, Sean Wright, fought back against Cuban’s remarks to reporters on Wednesday night.
“There is a second signal, but that signal is for the mandatory timeout that was due to the Mavs,” Wright said.
According to NBA By-Laws, the Mavericks have 48 hours to file a protest in writing to NBA commissioner Adam Silver. The league will inform the Warriors of the protest, and each team has five days to show evidence of their case.
Watch above via
Have a tip for us? tips@mediaite.com
