NBA fans dunked on ‘sleepless nights’ statement from refs after missed foul on LeBron James against Celtics
The official NBA referees Twitter account earned a healthy dose of side-eye after it attempted to curry sympathy for an atrocious missed call during Lakers-Celtics Saturday night.
The weekend’s premiere NBA drama came from a whiffed no-call on Celtics standout Jayson Tatum, who clearly fouled Lakers star LeBron James as he tried to net a game-winning basket for Los Angeles at Boston.
James became instantly outraged after the missed call, one that sent the game to overtime and sparked an absolutely hilarious technical foul on Patrick Beverley.
The league had to admit to the Lakers post-game that the call was indeed blown, creating plenty of critiques of the officiating crew that was in Boston.
Well, the NBA referees have come up with a very dramatic reaction to the frustration they’ve been getting.
Like everyone else, referees make mistakes. We made one at the end of last night’s game and that is gut-wrenching for us. This play will weigh heavily and cause sleepless nights as we strive to be the best referees we can be.https://t.co/WyN8QVuTOl
— NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) January 29, 2023
Sleepless nights? Are you kidding? The refs missed a big call, and they’re catching fire for it. It happens. It doesn’t mean these refs deserve to be trolled forever for it, but they’re going to get some negative vibes their way for a bit after playing such an unintentionally crucial role in the outcome of a game.