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Reggie Jackson: Refs should face fines, suspension for blown calls

Dan Devine
·Senior NBA writer

When point guard Reggie Jackson's attempt at a game-winning 3-pointer came up just short on Sunday night, so did the Detroit Pistons' chances of extending their first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers:

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After Kyrie Irving capped his strong Game 4 performance by picking up Jackson in the backcourt, slowing his progression into the offensive end, and influencing him into taking an off-balance 3-pointer in the closing seconds that missed to finish a four-game sweep that sent the top-seeded Cavs into Round 2, a clearly agitated Jackson approached Bill Kennedy to ask how Irving's reach-in on the game-ending play didn't result in a foul call that would have sent him to the line for three potential game-tying or even game-winning free throws.

Jackson's pleas fell on deaf ears, though, and that didn't sit well with him. He shared his displeasure at the way things finished up in his post-elimination press conference:

We got a stop. No timeouts. Kyrie decided to pick up early. You know, I thought I cleared some space and went to take a good shot, so, you know, tried to find a good look.

Um, yeah. I just think refs need to have some type of system in line [...] you know, fines, um, suspensions, being fired. Same thing that happens to us. So, you know — make bad plays or questionable [calls], you're not really being productive to the sport. You know, I think you should have consequences, just like the players. That's about [all] I've got to say on that.

Referees are evaluated on an ongoing basis as part of the broader push for transparency undertaken when Commissioner Adam Silver instituted the publication of daily "last two minutes" reports that communicate whether refs were right or wrong to blow the whistle or keep it in their pockets on late-game plays. (Many have raised issues with the L2M reports, however, including but not limited to the fact that significant calls/non-calls often come outside the final two mintues, or in games where the score wasn't within five points at the two-minute mark.)

On top of that, as ProBasketballTalk's Dan Feldman notes, Jackson didn't really make an apples-to-apples comparison here:

The NBA does sometimes fine or suspend officials. They’re punished for improper behavior, not incorrect calls – just like players. Jackson doesn’t get fined or suspended for turnovers or missed shots.

(In fact, we learned earlier this year that "fining" a player for turnovers is against the rules.)

It's the second time in the series that Jackson has made public mention of officiating issues. He received a technical foul in the fourth quarter of Game 1 after arguing a no-call on a jumper on which he thought he'd been fouled. The Pistons were down by four points with just under 3 1/2 minutes to go, and the T gave the Cavs an extra point, leaving Detroit head coach Stan Van Gundy livid. After the Cavs' 106-101 Game 1 win, Van Gundy said he was sure Jackson understood that he couldn't act that way and give away a point; asked if he wished he could have his action back, though, Jackson said, "Nah, I wish I could get the call."

Reasonable people can disagree on whether there should have been a foul called on the series-ending play. On one hand, Irving does reach in as Jackson was going up for the shot; on the other, Irving didn't actually make contact on the reach, and any contact that did come seemed to come as a result of Jackson leaping into Irving as he elevated for the shot. Maybe Jackson didn't get the call because he's not yet a star on the level of Irving, LeBron James or Kevin Love; maybe he didn't get the call because, y'know, there shouldn't have been a call made. Your mileage may vary, and how far you get likely depends on which team you were rooting for in this series.

For his part, Van Gundy — who received a $25,000 fine from the NBA last week after saying during a between-quarters interview in Game 1 that "LeBron's LeBron [and the referees are] not going to call offensive fouls on him. He gets to do whatever he wants" — said after Game 4 that he'd leave reviews of the officiating to the league, according to Aaron McMann of MLive.com:

The NBA reviews the final two minutes of all games decided by five points or fewer. A report is expected Monday.

"Or you guys can comment on that," Van Gundy said. "You guys saw the game as much as I did. You've all got DVRs — you can watch and comment on it. You want me to comment on it so I can spend another $25,000."

It'll be interesting to see if Jackson winds up writing the league a check for his post-game remarks. No, he didn't explicitly criticize the officials for making or not making a specific call, but he did call for heads to roll when mistakes are made, and did so after bringing the complaint straight to Kennedy on the court. We already saw with Van Gundy's fine that the NBA might not be especially keen on giving players and coaches the benefit of the doubt for offering emotional commentary either in the heat of the moment or in the immediate aftermath of a game; now, we'll see whether that approach extends to capping Jackson's first full year in Detroit with a stiff financial penalty for speaking his mind. Sure, he can afford it now, but it'd still add an extra bit of insult to the injury of watching a breakthrough season end with a front-rimmed 3.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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