Today, we look at the six times that the NBA actually upheld a game protest.
This is “Don’t Got No Sports,” an occasional foray by me into a discussion about sports, which technically IS part of pop culture, but I’ll admit is very different from the stuff that I normally cover here, hence it receiving its own feature. Besides my pop culture and comic book writing, I also manage two sports blogs, one for the Yankees and one for the Knicks. So occasionally I’ll have something I feel like writing about sports.
The New York Knicks are officially protesting their recent loss to the Houston Rockets after an official admitted after the game that the foul call at the end of the game on Jalen Brunson fouling Aaron Holiday on a desperation three-pointer was incorrectly called.
Generally speaking, a referee making an incorrect judgment call is not something that the NBA will uphold a protest, and most NBA protests are not upheld (Just six times out of forty-six protests), but I thought it’d be interesting to see which six protests WERE upheld by the NBA, so here you go:
1952
On November 28, 1952, the Milwaukee Hawks and Philadelphia Warriors played an overtime game, which ended up with a 78-77 Hawks win. However, due to various disqualifications, the Hawks only had four eligible players for the overtime period. The rules at the time said that the Hawks just had to play 4 on 5, but instead, the referee allowed the Hawks to play a fifth player. The Warriors protested, and the overtime period was replayed, with the Hawks winning 72-69 this time.
1969
On November 6, 1969, the Atlanta Hawks initially defeated the Chicago Bulls 124-122, after a Chicago tip-in was ruled to have come after the final buzzer. However, after examining the protest, the league determined that the shot HAD come before the buzzer (the referee Bob Rakel was the only person there who heard the buzzer, so despite the clock showing a second left and the timekeeper saying he never hit the buzzer, Rakel insisted that he was right and that the game was over. The league determined that Rakel’s judgement alone couldn’t say that a buzzer occurred when it hadn’t), so the game should have gone to overtime 124-124. The Hawks won the replayed overtime, 142-137.
1971
On December 3, 1971, the Buffalo Braves defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 91-90. However, with 4 seconds left, the Cavaliers were given the ball at the opposite end of the court, when they were supposed to get the ball at half court. Obviously, that dramatically changed their chances at getting a shot off, so after they protested, the NBA upheld it, and the last 4 seconds were replayed, with the Cavs getting the ball at half court this time. They missed the game-winning shot this time, and the game still ended 91-90 in favor of the Braves.
1978
On November 8, 1978, the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the New Jersey Nets 137-133, but referee Richie Powers called three technical fouls on Nets player Bernard King and Nets coach, Kevin Loughery. Well, as you might know, you can only have TWO technical fouls on any given player/coach, so Powers was incorrect in his application of the rules. He was suspended for five games for his actions. The game was replayed from the point of the technical fouls (5:50 left in the third quarter). The league felt that King deserved his two technical fouls, so he was ejected from the remaining parts of the game, but the league determined Loughery should have only received a single technical foul, so he was allowed to coach the rest of the game. The Sixers still won the game, 123-117 (there’s a cool side bit to this story that I’ll write about some day).
1982
On November 30, 1982, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the San Antonio Spurs 137-132 in overtime. However, at the end of regulation, with the Lakers down 116-114, Norm Nixon was shooting his last free throw when the Lakers and Spurs were called for a double-lane violation. This led to a jump ball. The Lakers controlled the tip, and Nixon hit the game-tying score, sending the game to overtime, which the Lakers won. The Spurs protested, and the league agreed that the double-lane violation should have canceled each other out, and thus no call. So the game was picked up from the end of regulation, with Nixon on the line. He missed the free throw, the Spurs got the ball, and after hitting a free throw, San Antonio won 117-114. As you might have noticed, this is the only time a protest actually changed the final result of the game, in terms of wins and losses.
2007
On December 19, 2007, the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Miami Heat 117-111 in overtime. However, with 59 seconds left, Shaquille O’Neal was disqualified from the game for receiving his sixth foul. The issue was that he only had five fouls at the time. So the Heat objected, and the game was replayed from 59 seconds left in overtime and the Hawks up 114-111. They still won 114-111 (O’Neal had been traded by the time of the replayed game, so he didn’t even play in the new game).
Will the Knicks be the seventh upheld protest? Probably not, but maybe!
Clearly, the Hawks (whether with Atlanta or Milwaukee) must have something special going on, since the NBA has only upheld 6 protests and half involved the Hawks.
Thanks for the info. It is fascinating to learn that in the entire history of the NBA (at least going back to the 50s), only one upheld protest changed the outcome of the game. It seems most times it’s just for bravado, like in baseball when a coach will yell at the umpire to “show fire” even though he’ll be ejected and literally nothing will change.
It stinks to lose because of a bad call, but clearly referees who are visually impaired, ignorant, on the take, or just incorrect in one instance are a universal part of sports. I’m sure in the first Olympics, some moderator missed what was clearly a pole vault or something and the trainer, Yellicus Maximus threw a fit. It’d be best if the Knicks just moved on from this one. And, you know, actually get to the Finals for the first time in 25 years.