The Sixers are mad at the referees, and that’s fair. Usually, in a situation which obviously calls for a timeout, the refs look towards the coach and players they expect to call said timeout. Also, a whole lot of bodies hit the floor in that last minute. Things were out of hand.
At the same time, though…
The ending to that game was the most exciting moment of the NBA season, and among the most exciting moments of the last NBA decade.
I tend to give referees the benefit of the doubt. They’re closer to the action than I am. They’re professionals. Especially in the moment, I assume they’re going to be proven correct. Of course, this time the replays didn’t bear that out. Tyrese Maxey’s jersey was tugged. Many timeouts were signaled and not rewarded. During the moment, though? I was most surprised they didn’t blow the play dead after Jalen Brunson’s shot to confirm that it was indeed a three. His toe was very, very close to the line.
This wasn’t the worst thing in the world, this decision to not review the play. At least for neutral fans. We want every call to be correct, but we’re only willing to pay so much for it in the currency of time and excitement. This college basketball season was plagued by an overuse of replay. An FA Cup semifinal in England was decided in part by replay this weekend, and while the call was correct, it was close enough that a number of neutral fans again said they’d rather have just had the exciting moment, sans correction.
The tricky thing with sports is that they’re supposed to be entertaining. They’re serious competition, yes, but they’re also games. After the Lakers’ loss last night, cameras zoomed in on a 39-year-old man walking off the court with his head down. He was upset, because he lost a game. Sports range between imitations of war and acts of athletic beauty and imitations of the most fun we ever had on a playground. Perfect officiating matters more in courts of law than it does in courts of basketball.
Was the imperfection too much last night? It might have been. It was especially too much if it was unfair. Which brings us to our last point here, one we’ve made before:
Fairness and perfection are two different things. Perfection, in this sphere, means getting every single call right. Fairness, in this sphere, means officiating the game objectively, without bias towards one team or the other. They’re correlated—imperfection can lead to single unfair results—but fairness just means neither team is benefiting from the imperfection. That’s what officiating should strive to uphold: Fairness and entertainment. Even if the latter comes at the price of a little imperfection.
The Deal With LTIR
Speaking of imperfection and fairness, let’s talk about Mark Stone.
To give the backstory here: Mark Stone is the captain of the Vegas Golden Knights. He became the captain four years ago, a year or so after being traded from Ottawa. He’s 31 years old and a good winger. Last year, he needed back surgery in February and missed the last two months of the regular season. He returned in the playoffs and helped Vegas win the Stanley Cup. This year, he needed surgery on his lacerated spleen, again in February. Again, he missed the last two months of the regular season. Again, he returned in the playoffs, scoring the Knights’ first goal last night.
On the surface, this seems impressive on the part of Stone and the Knights. Their captain went down with two months left in the season and they held it together long enough for him to come back and reinforce them in their Stanley Cup chase. The problem is that in Stone’s absence, the Knights exploited a loophole. Because Stone was on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) and didn’t count against the salary cap, Vegas was able to add some key contributors in his absence. Because the salary cap doesn’t exist in the playoffs (this is bizarre and I have not heard a great explanation as to why it’s the case), Stone was able to return, giving the Knights a better postseason roster than they could have had with Stone’s salary counting against the cap the whole regular season.
The Knights are not the first team to exploit this loophole, to use a significant injury to their advantage. The Lightning did it during their run a few years back. The Blackhawks did it with Patrick Kane ten years ago. There’s never been doubt about the player in question being injured in the initial moment, but the timing of the return has been suspect. Really? Two years in a row, Mark Stone became healthy enough to play right at the moment the salary cap disappeared?
The reality here is that the Knights had an advantage in that they were good enough to make the playoffs without those last few regular season games of Stone. They gained this advantage themselves, by putting together a really good hockey team. They’re exploiting a rule, but it’s a rule for everyone. It’s imperfect, yes. But it’s fair.
Ultimately, given salary caps are in their essence a manufactured excuse for certain owners who don’t want to try to win, credit to the Knights for finding a way around a dumb restriction. Credit to the NHL, too, for leaving the sloppiness of the rule in place and not trying to close the loophole, even with the last CBA. The situation is getting enough pushback that the loophole might be closed in the next few years, but its existence is good for players and it isn’t unfair to anyone. It’s just an ugly way to reach that result.
The Rest
College basketball:
- Per Matt Norlander, RJ Davis is going to return to UNC for his fifth year. Harrison Ingram’s going pro, Armando Bacot is finally out of eligibility, and Cormac Ryan has exhausted his twelve years as well, but if you could have one of the four, it would absolutely be Davis. Early Player of the Year contender. Might even be the favorite.
The NBA:
- I believe the latest on Kawhi Leonard is still that he’s questionable tonight for the Clippers. All three games are close on paper, and five of the six teams can probably be called title sleepers, especially with the Nuggets going up 2–0 and keeping attention off of everyone besides the Nuggets in the West. It’s a B-List, after last night, but there could be some good action, especially between Anthony Edwards and the Suns.
The NHL:
- Leafs/Bruins has taken the lead in the potential drama rankings, especially when considering how integral those franchises are to the NHL’s identity. Tense game last night, with a great atmosphere. Excited to see the two Western Conference series this evening, and not ready to write off some drama materializing in Florida.
Chicago:
- The Cubs start a series at Wrigley tonight against old NL Central rival Houston, and there’s some roster turnover to report. Matt Mervis, Luke Little, and Hayden Wesneski are coming back to the big league club. Kyle Hendricks and Drew Smyly are going on the IL with a lower back injury and a hip impingement, respectively. Garrett Cooper’s being designated for assignment.
- The Cooper DFA is a little odd and signals the Cubs really want to see Mervis at the MLB level right exactly now. Cooper’s had limited playing time, but he’s hit well and has a fine track record. For a bench bat, he’s really good. I’m curious if there’s another piece to the story here—if he was asking for a bigger opportunity elsewhere, now that the Cubs like what they see with Michael Busch, or if the Cubs have a reason to believe the results are about to nosedive.
- Hendricks to the IL is a little suspicious, but it’s for the best. I’m assuming this will keep Ben Brown in the rotation, which is a good thing. Hopefully it doesn’t get any Cubs front office people a Billy Eppler suspension this offseason. Also, hopefully Hendricks’s back recovers quickly.
- Smyly to the IL raised my heart rate for a second, after he was called on to do so much in the Diamondbacks series, but I’m relieved it isn’t his arm. I don’t know much about hip impingements, and it’s possible they can also be caused by overuse, but it would have felt sad if Smyly had eaten all those outs and then had shoulder inflammation or something like that.
Iowa State:
- The Cyclones picked up a commitment from Joshua Jefferson out of the transfer portal. Jefferson comes from Saint Mary’s, where he was a fine offensive wing but thrived on the defensive end, especially around the glass. Very good player who should fit very well in T.J. Otzelberger’s kingdom. Jefferson’s addition leaves one scholarship spot open, per the Cyclone Fanatic scholarship chart.
- Tyrese Hunter is headed to Memphis, which feels very sad. We don’t think all that highly of Rodney Terry as a coach, but Penny Hardaway’s program is coming off a messy season. As we said two summers ago, following money is a fine thing for Hunter to do. It’s his right. But unlike that move to a Chris Beard-coached Texas (pre-Beard’s arrest), this one seems likely to set back Hunter’s career a bit. Players haven’t exactly thrived under Hardaway. Some have made the NBA, but they were expected to do that.
