OAKLAND, Calif. _ Believe it or not, Warriors forward Draymond Green and NBA officials might actually agree on something. The men in the black and white stripes likely agree with Green's argument that the NBA's last two-minute report is "very pointless."
Green's reasoning did not just stem from the NBA's latest report revealing that Warriors forward Kevin Durant should have been called for a foul three times against Cavaliers forward LeBron James in the last 30 seconds of the Warriors' Christmas Day win over Cleveland on Monday. Green also argued it neither helps the players nor the officials.
"It makes no sense," Green said following Wednesday's morning shootaround. "LeBron can't go back and get the play over and get two free throws. Who does it help? That's not transparency. If anything it's putting the official on the spot that missed the call. But you're not going to put him on the spot in the third quarter. So why act like you're blaming the game on them?"
Green spoke for nearly four minutes on the topic, outlining in detail why he does not like the NBA's policy to release a play-by-play breakdown of missed calls in the game's final two minutes. Green's main point?
"Why would you just judge the last two minutes of the game?" Green said. "What about the call that was missed in the first quarter? What about the call that was missed in the third quarter? That call could've started a whole run for them and change the entire game."
Green then brought up a hypothetical situation. Say a team has an 11-point lead with six minutes to go in the third quarter. The referees miss a foul call on a player's drive to the basket, which results in the opposing team making a 3-pointer in transition. A potential 13-point lead suddenly slashed to an eight-point advantage. With both of those teams entering the fourth quarter tied up, that play served as a significant turning point regardless of how the final quarter played out.
"There's this thought of oh man, 'You turned the ball over with four seconds to go and you lost the game. No you didn't. That game was lost in the third quarter. That was lost in the second quarter. That turnover you had in the third quarter mattered just as much as the turnover in the fourth quarter," Green said. "But people don't view it that way because everybody thinks it was that play. It's not. It's a buildup. So I said all of that to say, 'Why would you just judge the last two minutes of the game? What about the call that was missed in the first quarter? What about the call that was missed in the third quarter? That call could've started a whole run for them and change the entire game.'"
In the Warriors' case, there were a lot of calls they felt officials missed earlier in Monday's game. Durant was called for a carry and two offensive fouls. Warriors forward David West was called for a foul on Cleveland guard Dwyane Wade after he initiated contact before taking a 3-point shot. Green picked up a technical foul after questioning why officials did not punish Cleveland guard Jose Calderon for yelling at referees.
"That's just how the game is, that's how the NBA is, especially after a game on TV everybody is watching and there's controversy at the end of the games," Durant said. "It covers their (butt)."
Unlike Green, though, Durant seemed more sympathetic to the league's intentions in admitting mistakes even if they cannot be rectified.
"I understand it, especially because the fans want to know and get confirmation on what they thought had happened during the game. I understand what it's about," Durant said. "But it doesn't change the outcome. It doesn't change what happens the rest of the game. It was just two minutes into a basketball game. But I can see why they made those calls. They made that and came up with that report. It's a physical game and they can miss those calls late in the game. I understand. But it doesn't change the outcome and it doesn't change how both teams view that game."
Green harbors those same feelings, saying he only hears about the NBA's two-minute reports when someone shares the report on Twitter. Therefore, Green suggested the NBA should find a better alternative.
"I got fouled by Gordon Hayward with 20 seconds to go in the Final Four to go to the championship my sophomore year. What is that report going to do for me? I was at home chilling after that game. So what's the point of it?" Green said. "It helps no one. It makes the referees' day go worse. It don't help us. I don't know. I don't think it makes much sense at all. Sometimes we do stuff in life like we just don't want to say we're going to go away with ... because we started it. Maybe the league doesn't want to go away from doing it because they started doing it. But I think they should just go away with it. It's just my opinion."
And it is an opinion officials might also share.
