Advertisement

Did a ref's grudge cause this Carmelo Anthony ejection?

Carmelo Anthony is in disbelief. (Associated Press)
Carmelo Anthony is in disbelief. (Associated Press)

Virtually every NBA fan has wondered aloud if the referees have it in for their team, but these feelings rarely persist to the point where specific officials seem to hold grudges against particular teams and players. There are famous cases, to be sure — Joey Crawford and the Spurs had enough high-profile incidents for a sports economist to write a scientific study of their relationship. For the most part, though, the worst referees look like equal-opportunity offenders.

[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball contest now | Free NBA Yahoo Cup entry]

An event in the second quarter of Friday night’s game between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks might add another name to the list. Referee Tony Brothers called a fairly standard loose-ball foul on Carmelo Anthony with 4:44 remaining in the first half, after which Melo responded with what looked like a normal level of complaint. Brothers whistled Anthony for a technical foul, which got him to voice his opinion more with no discernible boost in anger. Brothers wasn’t having it, though, and he gave the Knicks star another technical foul for the automatic ejection. Take a look:


The struggling Celtics managed to pull away for the second half for a 115-87 blowout win. Knicks fans wondered if the game could have gone differently had Melo been allowed to play the final 29 minutes. That group included his wife La La, who says Brothers has always had it out for her husband:

Brothers understandably did not admit to holding a grudge after the game:

For what it’s worth, the Knicks continued to have problems with the officiating after the ejection of their best offensive player and key matchup against the hurting Celtics:

The frustration is not unwarranted. While Anthony may well have offered up “bad language” after Brothers’ foul call, it’s not as if such words are a rarity on an NBA court. One tech would make sense in these circumstances, but officials tend to give players some rope if they’re not getting in physical fights or flying off the handle. Anthony seemed in control of himself, if also pissed off. An ejection seems like an overreaction.

[Follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]

Of course, that doesn’t mean Brothers has it in for Melo, who hadn’t been ejected from any game since the 2012-13 season. Fans have come up with plenty of reasons to call Brothers terrible at his job over the years — it’s not as if he’s otherwise fine and puts Anthony in foul trouble every time he works a Knicks game. Sometimes incompetence is a better explanation than conspiracy.

Related NBA coverage from The Vertical:

– – – – – – –

Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @FreemanEric