‘Officially Annoyed': Mavs Star Luka Doncic Deserves More Respect From NBA Refs
There’s a fine line to be observed when talking about ‘unfair officiating,‘ especially when it has to do with the team and player you care about and chronicle on a day-to-day basis - in this case, the Dallas Mavericks and 21-year-old phenom Luka Doncic - in order to avoid your take being labeled as favoritism and nothing more.
However, when the evidence against NBA officials grows from a molehill to a mountain, a dialogue needs to be started.
Frustrations boiled over (again) for Doncic after Sunday night’s 112-109 loss to the Indiana Pacers at home, a game in which the Mavs held a 109-104 lead with a little more than three minutes remaining. With the Mavs clinging to a one-point lead with 1:32 left in the game, Pacers big man Myles Turner 'blocked' Doncic's layup attempt that would've pushed Dallas' lead to three.
Later, after league review, the NBA's Last Two Minutes Report determined that call to be incorrect.
With 22 seconds remaining in the game, the Pacers had a one-point lead when Doncic tossed to Courtney Lee in the left corner of the court while Doncic was being hit in the face by Victor Oladipo - another no-call.
On this play, though, the L2M Report cited that play as being a correct no-call, and the detailed explanation was ... interesting:
"Doncic (DAL) releases the pass and continues moving forward with his head low into Oladipo's (IND) arm/side while Oladipo is in a legal position under the rim."
So, basically, they're saying it's Doncic's fault that his face collided with Oladipo's arm, despite Oladipo's blatant follow-through being clear on the replay.
As Doncic walked off the court in route to the locker room after the game against the Pacers, DallasBasketball.com’s Matthew Postins caught a candid clip of him saying, "We're playing 5-against-8 now every game. Something's got to change."
Although the game against Indiana featured two important goofs by the officials in key moments, this is far from the first time this has happened to Doncic and the Mavs this season. In fact, according to the Dallas News' Brad Townsend, the Mavs have now lost seven games this season in which the L2M reports have cited missed or incorrect calls.
Yes, the Mavs could've inarguably played better before these moments ever happened, but it borders on inexcusable for professional basketball officials to mess up this often. We can't think of too many other employers who would be as lenient with their employees making as many mistakes in less than a year's time as the NBA is with its officials.
As Fish points out here in Tuesday's "Crunch-Time'' Donuts, on the season, Doncic ranks fourth in the league in free-throw attempts per game (9.1). However, when you just look at free-throw attempts per game in clutch situations - that is, with five minutes or less remaining and the score being within five points--Doncic is tied for 12th in the league, averaging just one attempt.
Overall, Doncic has only attempted 23 clutch free-throws on the season. By comparison, Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler has attempted a total of 53 clutch free-throws and averages 2.3 in those situations. Houston Rocket's James Harden is next in line, having attempted 51 clutch free-throw attempts on the year and averaging two per game in clutch situations. Both of those players are in the top five ... with Doncic for attempting the most free-throws per game, but for some reason, the whistles are being swallowed for Doncic in clutch situations - at least significantly more so than his peers, who draw fouls near same rate he does throughout an entire game.
And to be quite honest, we've chosen to focus on the clutch-time incorrect calls and no calls for this particular piece, but Doncic is being blatantly hacked throughout all phases of some of these games with nothing to show for it except bruises, scratches and a lingering sprained thumb injury.
No matter how many free throws Doncic averages per game, there is no set cap-limit for how many times a player can go to the stripe. A foul is a foul, no matter which way you want to slice it, and Doncic, who has emerged as a bonafide superstar in just his second season in the league, simply wants to be treated with the respect he deserves.
We know owner Mark Cuban's $500,000 view on this: more professional training for refs. We wonder if the long-standing policy of refs making "superstar calls'' should be dumped. We also acknowledge, as Doncic does, that he needs to better funnel his emotions. Although the frequency of incorrect calls can push the limit of one's patience, continuously gnawing on the refs game-after-game probably doesn't endear yourself to them either.
But for certain, there should be agreement with Luka Doncic on one thing about referee responsibility: "Something's got to change."
