Another game, another controversial call by the NBA referees. This time, it came at De’Aaron Fox and the Sacramento Kings’ expense in their loss to the Atlanta Hawks, and Dyson Daniels. Following the game, Fox laid into the referees and held nothing back.
“Refs didn’t make a call,” Fox said. “Two-minute reports are always funny. Can’t do anything about it now… Hands are part of the ball when it’s convenient.”
Fox is referencing the referees missing a crucial call on Dyson Daniels in the fourth quarter. He stepped out of bounds toward the final seconds of the game. Ultimately, it cost Sacramento the win, despite another career performance from one of their guards. Fox dropped a 60-point burger a couple of games prior, and now it was Keon Ellis, who stood out in the loss and splashed nine treys.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time the refs have made their mark in a game this season. There was an instance that happened with their division opponent, the Phoenix Suns, a little over 24 hours before the Kings’ game. In their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, they missed a crucial call in the final seconds. Forward Julius Randle traveled in the final seconds, which made the Suns lose a nail-biter.
Kings guard De’Aaron Fox’s criticism shows the growing problem of referees
Although referees typically do a good job calling games, they’ve been consistently missing big calls during crucial moments. While they’re still humans who will make mistakes, the frequency of these, especially at the end of games is a bit shocking. Not to mention, there seems to be a lack of accountability for some of these calls.
As mentioned before, these referees are human and won’t get every call right. However, the fact that this happened so consistently makes many sound the alarm. Also, the Kings have received the short end of the stick for missed calls. In their loss to the Toronto Raptors, the two-minute report revealed many interesting findings.
First, Raptors forward RJ Barrett committed a traveling violation with 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Sacramento was down 119-118. Then in overtime, Raptors guard Gradey Dick committed a personal foul when the Kings were down 126-125. Two games of controversial calls have flown in the opposite direction for Sacramento.
Regardless, they’ll have to take this one on the chin. Luckily for them, they’ll have until Friday for the next game, which is against the Los Angeles Clippers. It’s a part of the NBA Cup group stage which could mean Fox having another possible breakout game. Still, ongoing concerns about officiating could be on display once again in another crucial game.
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