John Wall made waves after Friday’s loss to the Jazz, going on a four-minute rant about (what he perceived to be) poor officiating. Wall received a technical foul for making contact with Rudy Gobert on a screen; a video of the play can be seen here. The play was deemed a “hostile act,” setting Wall and his teammates off after the game.
“The way they’ve been officiating today doesn’t make no sense,” Wall told reporters, including Candace Buckner of the Washington Post. “It’s getting out of hand. If you want us to compete at a high level like we’ve been doing – we didn’t lose this game. The refs made us lose this game. We fought hard, we gave ourselves a chance but you don’t shoot no 31 free throws to 16 the way we attack the basket as a team. I tried to get some (technical fouls) rescinded before, it never works for my favor. Other players have and they got it. So, all I can do is just keep my mouth shut like I’ve been doing. I could see if I would’ve got a flagrant-1 but a technical off of that? That’s outrageous.”
Likely adding fuel to Wall’s flagrant-1 argument was Draymond Green‘s wrist punch to James Harden; an act Green admitted to performing in retaliation, and only received an offensive foul for. As Wall alluded to, the chances of his technical foul being overturned are slim-to-none.
“They said it was a ‘hostile act,’” Scott Brooks said after the game. “I’ve been around a lot of fights back when I played. Come on. ‘Hostile act?’ Really? It’s ridiculous.”
What do you think: was Wall’s strike to Gobert a “hostile act”? Should the decisions of referees be held to a higher standard, and if so: how? If Wall receives a penalty from the league, should Draymond as well?
Let us know what you think in the comments section!
Just a thought experiment – can you imagine Magic or MJ saying “the refs lost this game..the refs made us lose this game”?
A little tired of the new young NBA millionaires’ whining. Get out and play better basketball, don’t put your team in a situation where a late-game foul call will put your win in jeopardy.
The refs were different back in MJ and Magics time. Now you get thrown out of a game for saying something is BS. Players get fined for “offending” refs. They need to have more leeway and let people be more physical in the game and more competitive.
Exactly. Are players now a days “softer” than players from the 80s and 90s? Sure, but the game is also being officiated at a level that is almost endorsing that while also punishing any sort physical play. What incentive is there for players to play similar to the physical brand of basketball that defined the 80s and 90s when doing so will result in suspensions/fines/etc?
What John Wall did has nothing to do with how the game was played in the 80’s or 90’s. He hit Gobert in the guts with an open hand. If you are going to act like a punk then be a man and stand up for what you did. The game can be more physical and it doesn’t have to involve cheap hits like cowards like Wall, Green, and Delavoda.
Someone get this man a tissue
AHAHAH you said magic and MJ. Of course they weren’t whining they had the refs on their side.
I agree because there are players now that get a lot of phantom calls. Harden, James, even Westbrook. Wall just wants the same respect. But if the game was more physical and it wasn’t so touchy in terms of calls, he wouldn’t make it an issue. Does Wall get fouled a lot? Yea. But a lot of times he isn’t fouled but still wants the call. A lot of other stars get the calls, why can’t he? Cuz he doesn’t act and plays like a man? The refs have set the bar so low in the past decade. That’s the reason some people choose not to watch it and tbh, I can’t blame them.