In 2020, NBA referees James Williams and Kane Fitzgerald set out to change the game for sports officials. Their brainchild? RefMasters—a social and educational app focused on rules-based training. Now, as the platform gains traction, even the NBA has taken notice, according to The Athletic’s Shakeia Taylor. By fall 2022, RefMasters rolled out its beta version, introducing tools like RuleIQ, RefExec, and RefMasters University. And now as the Warriors take on the Bucks, they have an perfect example to include to train new refs.

A late technical foul involving Jonathan Kuminga sparked a heated discussion among NBA broadcasters. The play in question unfolded as Kuminga navigated through the defense, allowing his teammate to move ahead while surveying his options. With Buddy Hield positioned in front of him, Kuminga saw an opening and made his move toward the basket. However, Taurean Prince appeared to pull him, leading to a foul call by referee Mark Lindsay.

Following the call Prince’s reaction immediately led to a technical foul, giving the Warriors an extra free throw. While discussing the initial foul, the broadcasters acknowledged that there was a legitimate reason for the call. “Did the contact create an advantage? If Kuminga lays it in, no, it was incidental or marginal contact. If the layup doesn’t go, that pull created a defensive advantage—that is a foul.”

They emphasized that this is part of the art of officiating, where referees must judge whether the contact truly affects the outcome of a play.

However, the conversation took a turn when the topic of younger officials came up. “Mark Lindsay’s been doing this for 18 years,” the broadcast crew pointed out. “It’s young officials that want to blow the whistle all the time, and all the contact makes the game terrible, right?”

Their frustration highlighted a growing concern around the NBA—referees calling fouls too frequently, disrupting the natural flow of the game. While officiating requires balancing fairness with letting the players play, quick-trigger technical fouls and unnecessary whistles have become a major talking point among fans, players, and broadcasters alike.

And it’s not just individual calls sparking debate—it’s the broader impact officiating has on entire teams, especially in the playoffs.

The Warriors vs Bucks match officiating is what the OKC would want in playoffs

For months, analysts and fans alike have debated how the Oklahoma City Thunder’s offense will hold up in the playoffs. A common argument? Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won’t get as many calls in the postseason, making it harder for OKC to keep pace. It’s a fair concern—SGA averages the second-most free-throw attempts in the league at nine per game.

But looking at the numbers, the Thunder don’t exactly rely on freebies. They rank just 27th in free-throw attempts as a team while also committing the sixth-most fouls. Despite SGA’s ability to draw contact, OKC’s offense isn’t built on living at the line.

If anyone isn’t sweating the officiating, it’s Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault. For him, the only thing that matters is consistency. “I don’t look at it in terms of how the whistle benefits us. We adapt to the whistle,” Daigneault said. “We benefit from a consistent whistle because we can more easily adapt to it if it’s consistent. If we know what it’s gonna be—what’s a foul and what’s not—we can adjust. But if that keeps changing, it’s harder to adapt. We don’t care how they call it, just that they call it the same way every game.”

Until the playoffs begin, there’s no way to know for sure how OKC will adjust. But given their dominance this season without relying on foul calls, a tighter whistle shouldn’t throw them off—especially when they’ve been playing through contact all year.