The NBA is arguably more competitive today than it’s ever been. With at least one star-calibre player on each team, the race to the championship is often wide-open. And one missed or blown call by the officials can change the entire trajectory of a franchise’s season. Well, officiating has become a major concern for teams, as players regularly get called for unnecessary technical fouls and many hard hits often go unnoticed. And it looks like the players have had enough, as they have begun calling out the refs for their questionable decision-making. Three such incidents occurred tonight!

Well, the first one took place during the Pelicans vs Rockets. As Zion Williamson drove to the basket, he lost control of the ball, with Tari Eason and Steven Adams contesting his shot. While the play continued, the high flyer believed that he got fouled on the play, and he let the official know of his frustration. With no filter, Zion said to the referee, “So you didn’t see it huh? I’m sick of that s— bro!”

In a similar incident during Warriors vs Nets, Stephen Curry got called for a foul after he intentionally shoulder bumped defender Keon Johnson during an inbound pass. However, what the referee clearly missed was Johnson initially grabbing Steph’s arm and bumping into his body to stop him from receiving the pass. Sure enough, Curry was not pleased with the call and immediately turned toward the ref to express his frustration.

Meanwhile in Boston, Torrey Craig got penalized with a foul while defending Kelly Oubre Jr. during a drive to the basket. However, replay clearly showed that it was Oubre who accidentally hit the Celtics star in the jaw. But when Craig asked the official to review his decision, the call stayed, resulting in free throws for Oubre. This even led to Jayson Tatum taking a dig at the refs, “I woulda got a tech.”

Of course, Tatum has been on the receiving end of several controversial techs, for basic actions like clapping or waiving off a ref after a missed call. But these separate instances highlight the common issue that has been plaguing the league. Officiating! And it does not look like Adam Silver is doing much to solve the issue.

Adam Silver shuts down Stephen Curry’s suggestion of making NBA Refs’ Grading System Public

Well, tonight’s incidents were just the tip of the iceberg as league’s officiating has been in question for quite some time. To solve this problem for good, Steph recently suggested, “I’d want to see the refs grading system probably. Let that be more public, the same way our stats are shown. Not to make their job any harder, because it’s really hard job, but it would be interesting from the fan and player perspective to know why the ref is great and how they grade him.”

However, Adam Silver was not too thrilled about the idea, “Everyone in this room is familiar with human resources issues. And nobody necessarily wants to have their employment record published. I think we just have to find the right balance there.” Moreover, the league commissioner put himself in the players’ shoes and said, “I would stop complaining about officiating.”

But if the players’ stats and records are public for the entire world to judge and criticize, would it be too bad for the same to happen to the officials? After all, their decisions impact a lot of what happens in a game and their one bad call can taint a player’s legacy.

So, even though Silver’s comment about human resources is understandable, he needs to take some action to hold the officials more accountable, as it would lead to lesser controversial calls and more fluid basketball action. Do you agree?