Tim MacMahonCloseTim MacMahonESPN Staff WriterJoined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas MavericksAppears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FMFollow on X and Anthony SlaterMultiple AuthorsMay 11, 2026, 07:00 AM ET
play0:30Booker calls out ref by name after Suns’ lossDevin Booker calls out a referee after the Phoenix Suns’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Redick: LeBron has ‘worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen’ (0:58)Redick: LeBron has ‘worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen’ (0:58)
Booker calls out ref by name after Suns’ lossDevin Booker calls out a referee after the Phoenix Suns’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
AS SOON AS the final buzzer sounded, Austin Reaves stomped out to midcourt to confront crew chief John Goble, delivering a closing argument of sorts after the contentious conversations that occurred between the officials and Los Angeles Lakers throughout Game 2.
Once again, officiating would be a primary focal point following a convincing win by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
As LeBron James and several other Lakers surrounded Reaves and the referee on the OKC logo, Oklahoma City’s players observed the surreal scene. Laughter broke out among the Thunder, who had seized control of the game with reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sitting on the bench in foul trouble early in the second half.
“I just think it’s all distractions away from the court,” Gilgeous-Alexander told ESPN. “That’s how I see it. Whether they’re right or wrong, the refs have made a call, and unless you challenge it, they’re not going to change it.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning and likely repeat MVP, and the Thunder are in the midst of a historic stretch of greatness. They joined Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls (1995-97) and Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors (2014-16, ’15-17) as the only teams in NBA history to win at least 80% of their games over a two-season span. No team has ever had a better point differential over two years than Oklahoma City.
“We’re just focused on everything that happens in between the lines, but there’s obviously noise around our team,” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said. “There’s increased attention when you’re in the position that we’re in. There’s certain things that come with the territory. I put any sort of narratives like that in that category.”
DRAYMOND GREEN FIRST caught the thunderous ire of Oklahoma City fans during the 2016 conference finals, kicking beloved center Steven Adams in the groin while flailing on a shot attempt. In the decade since, his name hasn’t been uttered through those Paycom Arena speakers without eliciting a rainstorm of jeers — a serenade he gets all over the country.
Two months after that 2016 series, Green helped recruit Kevin Durant out of Oklahoma City, sending the Warriors’ villain era into overdrive. They had a supervillain-themed team party that September, right around the time a famous cartoon spoof video was released to emphasize that label.
But the heel turn began before Durant’s arrival. The Warriors were the sport’s sweethearts during their improbable 67-win arrival season, 2015 title and 73-win stampede. But by the end of those 2016 playoffs — after the Curry mouthguard throw, the Green flagrant spree and the 3-1 collapse — there was increased craving for their demise.
“As a sports fan, if the same team dominates too much, you want to see an upset,” Steve Kerr told ESPN. “And it happens pretty quickly. We were the darling in ’15 and ’16, but by the time the Finals came around, I think the average observer was pulling for LeBron [James] to pull off the comeback. I never took it personally. I’ve done the same thing. If a team in another sport starts to dominate, I root for the upset.”
Success doesn’t just breed bubbling disdain from those who consume and commentate on the sport. It seeps most within those actively trying to chase the champions down and knock them off the pedestal.
To gain a necessary advantage in that quest, opponents spotlight what they perceive to be unfair advantages and try to manipulate the increased policing of them.
The Warriors remember dealing with it even before the Durant days. Kerr injected an ecosystem of off-ball offensive movement that fully unlocked the shooting greatness of Curry and Klay Thompson. When it vaulted them to the top of the NBA mountain, the outcry was swift and loud: Illegal screens!
“That became a constant topic of conversation,” Kerr said. “It did frustrate us. Especially if teams countered that by flopping. You run into a slightly moving screen and act like you’ve just been hit by a truck. [Andrew] Bogut in particular, when he’d set an off ball screen, guys would go flying. But all’s fair in love and war.”
Coaches complained that Thompson pushed off to generate space. The Warriors complained right back that evolving defenders were learning to hold and grapple Curry too much off the ball when the eyes of officials wandered.
“That’s what’s going on with them,” Green said. “‘They got to be doing something.’ Nah, they just figured it out. So now it’s everybody else job to figure them out. [The rhetoric] is lazy. I don’t respect that at all.”
Green wouldn’t go as far as to disagree with some of the complaints levied in the Thunder’s direction, but he said the moaning is sour grapes from sore losers.
“Yes, they do foul,” Green said. “Yes, Shai does sell fouls. Yes, Lu Dort does some bulls‐‐‐. Yes, yes, yes, yes. All of that is true. Oh, well. If you can’t fucking beat ’em, shut up. One thing is for certain — a team that only plays to bait fouls, and a player that only plays to bait fouls, it catches up with them in the playoffs. They lose. [The Thunder] won a championship. So shut up.”
Kerr has been on a crusade against the off-arm usage of offensive players. He’s of the belief that if the NBA rewards the league’s best scorers for hooking a defender when they use the arm bar, they should no longer allow those same scorers to shove off when a defender is forced to keep their hands up to avoid the hook.
“Well, I love Mark [Daigneault],” Kerr said. “I think he’s a great coach. I think their guys really represent the league well. They have really high character guys. I think they’re smart. We just get frustrated when they get away with using their hands defensively, but then Shai is allowed to push off. But I don’t blame them. I blame the league.”
AFTER LISTENING TO his team gripe at the officials for almost three quarters, New York Knicks coach Mike Brown felt like he needed to do his part during a March 29 game at the Paycom Center. After a whistle blew, Brown got within inches of referee Mitchell Ervin’s face and roared his disapproval.
As he anticipated, Brown got called for a technical foul, one of only two T’s he received this season. The other occurred during the Thunder’s annual visit to Madison Square Garden a few weeks earlier.
“You can’t waste your energy on the officials, and I thought we did too much of that tonight,” Brown said after the Knicks’ 111-100 loss in Oklahoma City. “And it still didn’t change. We yelled at the officials, I got a tech, and they still shot 38 free throws.”
The Thunder are one of the most physical defensive teams in the league but are among the best at keeping their opponent off the free throw line. Oklahoma City allows 21.9 free throws per game in the regular season, the seventh-lowest total in the league. That has dipped to 18.4 free throws in the postseason, the lowest of the 16 playoff teams.
Is that dichotomy due to discipline or favorable officiating? Opinions vary, typically depending on which team’s jersey or quarter-zip the person wears.
Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell was even more direct after a Feb. 22 loss in Oklahoma City: “I mean, yeah, they foul. There’s no secret to that. They foul. But at the end of the day, it’s been a season and a half, two seasons. What are you going to do — keep saying the same thing? They’re not calling it. Yeah, they foul. They’re not calling it, so it’s not a foul. But it’s frustrating and you just can’t let it get under your skin.”
“It’s humorous to me because it’s like, what do we want to champion? Do we want to champion good, tough defense?” Caruso said. “Everyone complained because the league scored too many points. As long as we’re not malicious with it, we should be able to play the way that we want to play.”
But the Thunder, who were called for only 19 technical fouls all season, don’t necessarily mind when their opponent expends energy arguing with officials.
“We try our best to play hard without fouling, and then it gets frustrating on the other side sometimes.”
Devin Booker calls out a referee after the Phoenix Suns’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“HE’S ALLOWED TO miss, too!” Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff hollered at veteran referee Scott Foster midway through the fourth quarter as Gilgeous-Alexander headed to the free throw line yet again. “He’s allowed to miss, too!”
The Pistons were visiting the Paycom Center a night after the Knicks, and this was the kind of game that fuels the narrative prompting fans to serenade Gilgeous-Alexander with “FREE THROW MERCHANT!” chants in hostile arenas around the league.
The Thunder pulled out a 114-110 overtime win over the short-handed Pistons, in large part because of Gilgeous-Alexander’s parade to the line. He shot 25 free throws, two more than Detroit’s team total.
Sitting in that same seat the previous night, Brown gave Gilgeous-Alexander credit for what he referred to as “gamesmanship.”
But at least one Thunder teammate scoffs at the suggestion that Gilgeous-Alexander benefits from a friendly whistle.
In NBA history, guards have averaged at least 30 points per game in a season while playing enough games to qualify for the scoring title on 48 occasions. Gilgeous-Alexander’s 9.0 free throws attempted per game this season ranks 32nd on that list. The 8.8 free throws he averaged in 2024-25 ranks 33rd. The 8.7 he averaged in 2023-24 is tied for 34th.