Golden State Warriors: Christmas Loss Highlights NBA’s Officiating Issues

Hanging on the Rim

After falling behind by 14 in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers battled back and took the lead with 1:43 remaining on a thunderous LeBron James dunk. As the arena erupted, LeBron shook around the rim and hung for a few extra beats before dropping to the court.

The best player in the world capping a tremendous comeback with a dunk should have been the league’s favorite play, but instead the moment was overshadowed by what didn’t happen.

The referees did not call a technical foul for James’ extended time hanging from the rim. The non-call seemed reasonable in hindsight — James was fouled, which meant that play was stopped, and there were bodies around him.

While he put some extra mustard on the dunk, he didn’t pull his head back above the rim.

But the broadcast team, and specifically Jeff Van Gundy, made a note to bring the non-call up and injected it into the national spotlight.

Whether that influenced the NBA’s decision to include the play in their two-minute report is unclear, but it certainly kept the league watching out for that report.

On Monday the NBA released their two-minute report, which evaluates the decisions made by the officiating crew in the final two minutes of every close game.

This reported determined that LeBron had in fact committed an infraction by hanging on the ring so long, which should have resulted in a technical foul and a free shot from the Warriors.

That point may have come in handy for Golden State.