The NBA is admitting they made a mistake overlooking a critical call during Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs.
On Tuesday (June 9), the day after the game played out at Madison Square Garden, NBA head of officiating Monty McCutcheon sat down with ESPN to address one of the night’s most controversial moments and acknowledged that the referees missed the foul.
The foul in question featured Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama apparently shoving Knicks guard Jalen Brunson during the game’s first quarter.
“I think we can all agree that a foul was missed on that play. A big part of our job is on-ball, off-ball exchanges between referees. We did a poor job of that here where we got two people on-ball and we don’t see the screening action,” McCutchen said.
The foul is currently under review by the league and it could result in a retroactive flagrant foul for Wembanyama.
You can watch a video clip of the incident below.
As shown in the clip, both Brunson and Wembanyama were trying to get into position at the top of the key on a Knicks position when the Spurs forward used his left arm to shove Brunson, who also appeared to have a handful of Wembanyama‘s jersey in his hand. When he was struck in the back of the neck, he fell on the court.
If a flagrant foul does happen, per Sports Illustrated, it could result in a one-game suspension for Wembanyama ahead of the upcoming Game 4. He already received two flagrant foul points after getting ejected from Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Timberwolves and there is a rule that if any player goes over three points, they are suspended for a game.
It’s also possible that the league might reassess and give Wembanyama a flagrant two, which would put him over three points ahead of next week’s upcoming Spurs vs. Knicks rematch.
“We want to make sure though that when we’re impacting the game as referees, that we aren’t killing the game or stifling the game, but allowing enough physicality where players can really perform, while not letting it go too far,” continued McCutchen. “And when you get a play like this that’s on the demarcation line, there’s going to be open debate about it.”
When asked about the incident during a postgame presser, Brunson said: “Whatever you saw is what you saw.”
Tons of celebrities came out to Game 3, check out the complete list here!
Posted To:Jalen Brunson NBA New York Knicks San Antonio Spurs Sports Victor Wembanyama
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