I for one have been calling on the NBA referees to be able to talk after each game and answer questions about the calls they made or did not make. After all, fair is fair as athletes and coaches must face the music each game. The NBA for its part has what it calls pool reporters which is a selected member of the media that will be able to ask a referee a question. All other media will contact and submit to this person questions for the ref to answer if they choose. It is usually a basic question and a basic answer and it is over, no real question or answer. Here ar the NBA rules for such
POOL REPORTER REQUEST PROCESS
Pool Reporters. When there are instances in which a referee’s call during a game may require
further explanation or clarification, media may request to speak with the crew chief following the
game. The league will designate an independent “pool reporter” to conduct that interview. A
pool reporter request must be made within 15 minutes of the end of the game. The list of pool
reporters for each game (with contact information) will be listed on Media Central on the
morning of every gameday.
Pool Reporter Request Process
1. Media members who would like to request an official’s explanation or clarification of a call
should notify the designated pool reporter for that game prior to the game’s conclusion. All
requests MUST be sent to the designated pool reporter, who will deal exclusively with the
league on facilitating the request.
2. If the pool reporter determines to proceed with the request, he or she should notify the NBA
Basketball Communications On-Duty contact that a pool reporter has been requested. The
pool reporter should then communicate with the media who made the request and others
covering the game to compile a list of questions/plays about which the media would like
clarification.
3. The NBA will schedule a Zoom call to facilitate an interview with the game’s crew chief and
the pool reporter, which will occur as soon as possible after the game concludes and the
questions are submitted. During the Zoom call, the pool reporter may ask the submitted
questions and any reasonable follow-up inquiries related to the play(s) in question. The pool
reporter CANNOT publicly share any portion of the interview until the official transcript is
available to all media.
4. The NBA will be designated to record the call and provide the transcript after the interview is
completed. The transcript will then be posted on www.nba.com/official and on X from
@NBAPR and @nbaofficial.
Updated: 1/3/24
Last night the New York Knicks took on the Houston Rockets and as the game got into the final second of the tie game, Holiday put up a shot from deep and Brunson just to try and block the shot. The shot falls off but the ref calls a foul with no time and Holiday hits one shot to win the game. After the game crew chief Ed Malloy told the pool reporter this;
“After seeing it during postgame review, the offensive player was able to return to a normal playing position on the floor,” he said. “The contact which occurred after the release of the ball therefore is incidental and marginal to the shot attempt and should not have been called.”
This is a stacked category this season, but the officials in this Rockets-Knicks game might have just made the worst call of the year
— Yaron Weitzman (@YaronWeitzman) February 13, 2024
He said this right after the game and the game survived! Yes people are upset but they will get over it and hearing from them that they made a mistake and they told us right after the game is huge! It shows all that the NBA has told us would happen did not. In fact more people are happy to hear them take accountability than anything else. So Cudos to you Ed Malloy for stepping up, maybe the league will do the same.
Here is the play
https://official.nba.com/archive/end-of-period-foul-knicks-rockets-2/
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