If an NBA apology comes Sunday for no-call, here’s why it will mean zero to Hornets
Sometimes saying “sorry” changes nothing. It won’t Sunday if the NBA’s last-two-minute report says a foul should have been called at the end of the Charlotte Hornets’ 117-115 home loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
The Hornets feel robbed. They believe Nets guard Caris LeVert made contact with the Hornets’ Kemba Walker in the final seconds as Walker looked to get off a shot. No call was made, the three referees left the court, and the Hornets - both coaches and players - departed stunned and furious.
The anger was most apparent in the tone of coach James Borrego. This isn’t the first time this season Borrego felt his team was ripped off. He was still angry in Detroit two days after a controversial ending to a loss in Philadelphia in November. That memory only added to his exasperation Saturday night.
“I saw it live and I saw it again on film. I know what I saw!” Borrego said. “But I’ll see it in the two-minute report tomorrow.”
As in, if the NBA acknowledges a mistake was made, that Walker should have gotten two free throws, it will be of zero consolation. Borrego wasn’t done blowing off steam.
“The league can come out with their two-minute report tomorrow, and we’ll all enjoy that,” Borrego said sarcastically.
“These are the moments; your guys battle, you put yourselves in a position to win. It’s not an easy game to call, but this is extremely frustrating for our team. Not just for tonight, but for a number of nights this season.
“To get a two-minute report? I could care less.”
Transparency, but...
The NBA web-publishes these last-two-minute reports, double checking the validity of calls and no-calls late in close games, as a matter of policy. They are intended to enforce transparency and accountability. Certainly, they are well-intended. However, often to the players and coaches affected most directly, they are meaningless, sometimes even painful.
To be told a referee crew made a mistake of great consequence, but that the outcome won’t be reversed or re-played, has no consolation. Often I’m told by those affected they’d prefer the league just move on, because it feels torturous to read that, rather than comforting.
Add to that the stakes of Saturday’s Hornets-Nets game. The Nets entered this one sixth in the Eastern Conference standings, a game ahead of the seventh-place Hornets. The head-to-head series was tied at 1-1 with two games remaining. Had the Hornets won, they would have been in a virtual tie for sixth (percentage points difference) and with a 2-1 edge for a potential tiebreaker going into Friday’s final matchup of the season in Brooklyn.
The Hornets had come back from a 19-point deficit to lead by as much as eight points in the fourth quarter. They let the Nets back in, but they sure liked their chances of at least getting to overtime with the ball in All-Star Walker’s hands.
Avoid a fine
Walker was extremely careful in his post-game comments, apparently looking to avoid a potential fine for publicly criticizing the officiating. He wouldn’t say whether he felt he was fouled, or even if he felt contact from LeVert on the play, but his facial expression said plenty.
LeVert said post-game he believed his elbow grazed the ball. He was not particularly definitive on whether he also made contact with Walker.
While Walker was careful not to call out the officiating, teammate Marvin Williams was more direct.
“That was a foul, to me. From my vantage point, that was a foul,” Williams said, shaking his head. “I feel like if that play happened in the the third quarter or the first quarter, I don’t understand how he doesn’t get free throws on that play.”
Instead of free throws, the Hornets will get a report, and the substance of that report might amount to an apology.
A hollow one.
Rick Bonnell: 704-358-5129, @rick_bonnell
This story was originally published February 23, 2019 at 11:33 PM with the headline "If an NBA apology comes Sunday for no-call, here’s why it will mean zero to Hornets."
