Another day, and another reason why the NBA commissioner catches a shot for his governance. Even though the rule implemented the desired result that was needed, Adam Silver was on the receiving end, not directly, but indirectly. It was once again Charles Barkley who had his issues with Silver in the past, and once again was not impressed. This time, Chuck and the TNT crew’s issue is with ‘A Last Two Minute Report, or L2M,’ a report that drew criticism after the Knicks vs. Pistons game.

The Knicks had a 94-93 lead in Game 4 at Little Caesars Arena, with 0.3 seconds left, Tim Hardaway Jr. tried a game-winning shot. The Pistons’ forward’s shot did not go in as he absorbed contact from Josh Hart. But the packed crowd was hoping for the whistle, which never came. So, the L2M report did provide some relief to the Motor City fans, or did it?

On the recent broadcast of Inside the NBA, Ernie Johnson narrated the report from crew chief David Guthrie.”During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play. After postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr, and a foul should have been called.” The first response against this report came from Kenny Smith: “Okay, so now Tim should go to the free-throw line right now and see if he can make it.”

Obviously, a tongue-in-cheek comment since the moment and the game has passed. Next, it was Charles Barkley, who followed it with his rant. “Let me tell you something man, the NBA, as much as I love and it’s gave me a great life, that’s the stupidest thing ever.” The rule from Adam Silver about L2M was pretty clear to provide greater awareness and understanding of the rules and processes that govern the game. Plus, the tool served as a mechanism of accountability to the stakeholders who sought clarification after the games.

So, the current report after the Knicks-Pistons battle did the job. But Charles Barkley was never on board with this idea. “Like, yeah, how does that actually help the Pistons coming out later? All you’re doing is throwing referees under the bus. Yeah, we know it was a foul, they missed the call, but to act like put that thing out, we want to be transparent. Like that don’t help the Pistons.” Chuck doesn’t believe these reports help make the game transparent.

As per his admission, it only puts more pressure on the officials in the first place who missed the call. Usually, the NBA routinely reviews the final two minutes of close games and issues a report the next day. However, in this case, a pool report was requested immediately, prompting Guthrie’s comments.

Charles Barkley argues with Inside the NBA crewmate, but it’s not Shaquille O’Neal

Even the post-game interview from Josh Hart didn’t help the matter. “Did I make contact with him? Yeah, I mean, I made contact with him. Was it legal? I don’t know. We, we’ll, we’ll let you know the two-minute um you know report, say that.” The report did not favor the Knicks star, and the TNT crew rightly discussed it, which caused some back-and-forth amongst them.

Before reading the report, Ernie Johnson narrated the highlights and said, “Josh Hart makes contact with Hardaway, no call.” Barkley interrupted, “I like the way you said contact, you mean foul, don’t you, Ernie?” But the host repeated, “Made contact,” and Chuck once again argued, “That’s I know that’s we call that a foul, not contact.” It made EJ laugh, but the end result was no laughing matter for the Pistons.

Who lost both home games with a combined point of 3 and are down 3-1 in the series. Once again, they will have the job to do at the Garden in order to stay alive in this series. Apart from the no-call, Detroit did concede 17 turnovers, something to control in the next game. Even if the foul call was not in their control.