On Saturday, the Detroit Pistons were involved in a heated affair. The Pistons were up against the leaders of the Western Conference, the OKC Thunder. Despite their resilient effort, they ultimately fell short against the Thunder. However, their head coach, JB Bickerstaff, felt that his team was the victim of poor officiating. The Pistons HC was not holding back during the post-game presser, showing his frustration after the heartbreaking loss. “[‘I’m] disgusted by the way that game was officiated,” Bickerstaff said.

“The level of disrespect was above and beyond.” Well, Bickerstaff has called out bad calls before but his frustration was on a whole another level after Saturday’s defeat. He was annoyed with the referee for not giving his players the same level of respect. He felt like this was a significant factor in several calls favoring the Thunder, including the ejecting of their star player, Cade Cunningham. Everyone was curious to know more about the referee, Brian Forte, making these controversial calls. If you’re one of those people, keep reading– here’s everything you need to know about him and more.

Who is Brian Forte? Know all about the NBA referee

The man in charge of this highly anticipated matchup was none other than—Brian Forte. The 49-year-old veteran was the referee for this clash and the thought of him being the talk of the town probably wouldn’t have crossed his mind at tip-off. However, that’s the case. The Fairfax, Virginia native is officiating in his 17th NBA season and has a fair amount of experience. That’s because Forte has officiated 956 regular season games and even has taken charge of 37 high-intensity playoff games. Moreover, you could say he’s inherited officiating as his father Joe Forte was also a referee in the NBA before his son.

Despite having so much experience, Brian Forte was heavily criticized for favoring OKC due to their top team status. “[The Thunder] have a guy fall down, trip on his own teammate’s foot, they review us for a hostile act. [The Thunder] throw an elbow to our chest, neck area, I ask [the officials] to at least take a look at it, just show us the respect to take a look at it, no one would take a look at it.” Said an animated Bickerstaff. The stats might paint a good picture for you to understand how the game went down. When we talk about free throws, OKC was miles ahead with 22 on the night when compared with Detroit’s 13. But, that’s not all! The Pistons had five technical fouls whereas the Thunder had none.

Two of these came from superstar Cade Cunningham, who was ejected for arguing with the referee. Cunningham according to Forte addressed the official with profanity causing a first technical foul and didn’t stop there leading to another technical foul followed by an ejection. The Pistons star was not at all happy with the referee’s decision and was fuming as he went down the tunnel. His teammate Dennis Schroder also received tech and meanwhile, Isaiah Stewart also committed a loose ball foul. All these decisions ultimately led to Detroit falling short of a comeback on the night. Also, the reason why JB Bickerstaff felt he and his team were robbed of their chance to grab a win against OKC.

Forte has been previously involved in an infamous mishap during the Jazz and Trail Blazers game on February 7th, 2020. When he and the team missed an obvious goaltend in the final second of the game helping decide the game’s outcome. However, tonight, Brian Forte and his team felt like they made the right decisions in their explanation after the game. They thought Cunningham’s ejection and the other fouls were rightfully called, despite the Pistons having a different opinion. Forte, who’s worked six seasons in the G League and even officiated in college basketball, has seen his fair share of criticism over the 17 years he’s been at the job. The Furman University graduate should be able to handle this rant from the Pistons’ HC. As he and his crew will look forward to officiating the next game, they are in charge.