It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
This is the sentence one might use to describe Sunday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, which, on one hand, was an epic display of shot-making played at a frantic, edge-of-your-seat pace, while on the other was a contest tattooed by the officials over the course of the final minute.
During said span (with the Toronto Raptors trailing by two), DeMar DeRozan drove to the basket and believed he was fouled by Corey Brewer. When the officials didn’t make the call, DeRozan erupted with anger. Seconds later, Russell Westbrook banked in a tough pull-up jumper and, immediately after, Dwane Casey was called for a technical foul, resulting in a Paul George free throw that put OKC up five and the game away for good with a mere 11.7 seconds left to play.
What occurred next was unfortunate.
Despite the game being clearly in the Thunder’s hands, Marc Davis, the lead official, chose to eject DeRozan, Serge Ibaka, and Casey instead of simply letting the clock run out and the contest end.
The DeRozan ejection makes some sense (DeMar hadn’t stopped yapping at Davis since the drive against Brewer), but the Ibaka and Casey ejections were a show of power and force that, quite frankly, were unnecessary. Not unnecessary because they didn’t deserve to be ejected (although supposedly it was a fan heckling Davis from behind Casey that got the Raptors coach kicked out), but because the game was already decided. Instead of simply letting the clock run out (a mere 11 seconds!), the officials felt the need to leave their stamp on the game and, in effect, a talking point for the world to discuss.
So now the discourse has predictably returned, especially for Raptors fans, to players being treated unfairly by the officials to the point of losing games because of them.
Again.
It’s no secret that within the Raptors fanbase there churns a subset of people who truly believe there is a conspiracy by the officials against their beloved team—namely, making sure all the calls go against the Raptors so that it’s more likely they will lose.
Whatever ridiculous reason a conspirator may provide to try and prove their point (“The refs hate Canada!”), the notion that league officials are specifically out to get the Raptors and swindle them out of victories is simply comical. Such a thought process embodies an extreme Us vs. Them mentality, something far more sinister and much less fun than the Raptors’ We The North campaign, which obviously capitalizes on Toronto being Canada’s only NBA club.
Not helping this extreme stance are some of the Raptors themselves. After the game against the Thunder, DeRozan, still fuming, spoke to the media about the officials, saying: “No, we’re used to going against the odds every step of the way. It’s been like that. We fight through it, but as soon as we say something, we’re the bad guys. We get fined. We get criticized. Every single night when we play we fight against all the odds. We still prevail, but we’ve all got a breaking point and it’s frustrating. You seen it tonight.”
These sorts of comments only add fuel to the fire, and distract from the actual games themselves. Instead of thinking about the Raptors slowly overcoming their crunch time issues via better play, for example, the discussion will be about how Toronto is finally managing to win games despite the referees attempting to shoot them down.
It’s a mess. And for those of us who really love the game, it’s frustrating.
This is not all to say that NBA officials are perfect, either. They’re not—they’re human, and they make mistakes. They have one of the most difficult jobs in sports, and no matter what they do, someone is going home displeased with them.
Truly, their failures are mistakes the vast majority of the time (the show of power by Davis an exception, I would argue), not part of some grand, villainous scheme. And despite what conspirators will tell you, the Raptors are receiving treatment no differently than any other team in the NBA.
Every season there are blown calls that are game-alterers. Yes, they happen to Toronto. But they also happen to everyone else.
Remember when Giannis Antetokounmpo stepped out of bounds on a game-winning dunk against the Thunder, for example?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQJT-AOIXq4
Across the league, the player-referee relationship has intensified this season. Like anything, this is due to a variety of factors, including referee turnover (with many players not as respectful to new officials, who are prone to making more mistakes than veterans) and players complaining more than ever before (so much so that it has become an unnecessary part of the game).
Surprisingly, however, for how much this has been a topic of discussion this season, the number of technical fouls and ejections handed out doesn’t reflect a season far more tempestuous than any before it. Per FoxSports.com, there were 780 technicals and 69 ejections called in 2016–17. This season? So far, there have been 728 techs and 64 ejections.
As for the Raptors, well, not much has changed for them, either.
Kyle Lowry, DeRozan, and Ibaka are the top three for the team in each category. Last season, they were called for eight, thirteen, and five technical fouls, respectively. This season they’ve been called for nine, eight, and seven.
In terms of ejections, last season Lowry was removed once, DeRozan once, and Ibaka twice. This season, Lowry’s been removed twice, DeRozan once, and Ibaka three times.
While the Raptors may be complaining more, it hasn’t actually affected them much differently than in years past—at least, not in terms of getting called for techs or kicked out of the game. What it has done, however, is increased the amount of time they spend at one end of the floor barking at an official while play is still going on at the other end. It’s gotten in their heads that they deserve calls, whether they do or not, and it’s become a frustrating mental crutch for them when they find themselves losing games.
It’s been said by many, but the fact remains true: This isn’t the sort of attitude that helps teams win come the postseason. The Raptors are not only going to have to fight through their opponents and some bad calls, but they’re going to have to fight through themselves, through this mental roadblock they place in front of them each time things aren’t going their way. Mental fortitude, like everything else, becomes that much more salient in the playoffs, and it’s something the Raptors are going to have to figure out if they want to get anywhere significant.
This has been one of the most enjoyable Raptors seasons in franchise history. The team is 52–18 and atop the East. The bench has been unstoppable, DeRozan has improved yet again, and Casey has a legitimate Coach of the Year case.
There is so much more to discuss with this Raptors squad that doesn’t involve pushing a tired narrative that holds no water. So let it die, conspiracy theorists. Enjoy the team’s success.
It’s time to move past clichés.
