NBA referees blast league over ‘absurd’ Last Two Minute report

It’s no secret that referees dislike the reports.

One day after the NBA said that Bucks guard Giannis Antetokounmpo committed a five-second violation before his game-winning shot against the Knicks on Wednesday, the league’s referees shot back on their Twitter account, calling the assessments “absurd.”

The league’s report states that Antetokounmpo’s violation is detectable with a stop watch, which referees don’t have the luxury of using during every play. “We'll be sure to bring that with us next time,” a sarcastic tweet read.

NBA says 5-second violation, but is only "detectable with stop watch." We'll be sure to bring that with us next time. More L2M absurdity. https://t.co/xSnwsKXzym

— NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) January 6, 2017

Since February 2015, the league has released a public review of all calls and non-calls made by officials in the last two minutes of close games. The National Basketball Referees Association called for an end of the reports in June, adding to public criticism of the releases from Dwyane Wade and Warriors coach Steve Kerr.

Kevin Durant became the latest player to speak out against the Last Two Minute report in late December.

– Kenny Ducey