“Absolutely brutal lmao,” was how That’s Ball Folks! pod host Josh Reynolds reacted after the Jazz-Lakers matchup. After all, what transpired in the final seconds is a sight rarely seen on the NBA court. As the Jazz trailed their LA rivals by 104-105 with 8.2 seconds on the clock, Collin Sexton gained possession of the ball. He danced through a defense of two and ran toward the basket. And a few seconds before a layup attempt was made, the whistle blew! A timeout was called by Jazz, head coach, Will Hardy. WHAT!?

This prevented his team from gaining the 2 points that would’ve awarded them the win. Hours after the blunder, further clarification was provided on what went down.

According to The Athletic’s Tony Jones, Will Hardy and Collin Sexton were able to work things out after returning to the locker room. The HC reportedly admitted that he was responsible for robbing that important moment from him. In turn, Sexton was not too mad.

This was so contrary to the disappointment that had clearly reflected on his face when the whistle blew. While the HC apologized in private, he also made a revelation to the media about a delay in the timeout call. “We like to let people go in that situation. When Collin did a retreat dribble backward, I started calling time out,” Hardy revealed.

“It’s obviously loud. The hope would have been to have a few more seconds than 2.1. But, yeah, it’s tough.” It cannot be said with certainty whether Will Hardy’s call prevented Utah from the 1-point lead. After all, according to reports, the whistle blew around the same time Sexton started his drive. Upon hearing it, Anthony Davis, who was present in the paint and had his eyes on the Jazz star, allowed the layup to happen. If someone had not blown the whistle, there was a chance that Davis could have blocked the ball.

So, in the end, the situation remains uncertain and full of ‘what if’ scenarios. “It’s hard, because you don’t know exactly how it would’ve ended up had they not blown the whistle and everybody kept playing. Maybe Collin would have finished it,” Hardy added. The Jazz could have certainly used a win. They held a 4-15 record before the Lakers matchup and had lost 8 of their last 10.

Will Hardy assures he will be more careful should a similar situation repeat with Collin Sexton

Collin Sexton is someone who Will Hardy certainly holds in high regard. After all, not every Utah Jazz player can make at least 16.9 points per game by averaging 47.5% field goals and 41.9% 3-pointers. And not everyone can dribble around LeBron James to get a layup. Even I have difficulty repeating the feat in NBA 2K! Therefore, this foul call is not something that the HC will easily forget.

“I did what I did,” said Hardy when discussing the timeout. “We all have responsibilities at the end, but Collin’s an amazing kid and a great teammate. He’s super coachable. He and I notoriously butt heads a lot, but there’s a lot of love between us. I hope we get another situation like that, and I’ll just start walking to the bench and sit down when he goes full court.”

What are your thoughts about this situation? Do you think that Collin Sexton could have made the same layup if the whistle hadn’t been blown? Or could Anthony Davis have successfully blocked it? Let us know in the comments down below.