ESPN rules analyst Steve Javie took viewers inside the mind of an NBA referee during Sunday’s Game 2 broadcast, but the insight he provided didn’t quite have the effect he intended.
The refs didn't do the Celtics any favors in Game 2
Late in the second quarter, Warriors forward Draymond Green fouled Celtics guard Jaylen Brown on a three-point attempt. As they fell to the floor, Green laid his legs across Brown’s body and made no attempt to get them off. After Brown lifted Green’s legs off him, Green pushed Brown and then grabbed his shorts as he got up.
The refs decided to review the play to see if any technical fouls were warranted, and that’s when the ABC broadcast brought in Javie, who officiated more than 1,500 NBA games before transitioning to a media career in 2012.
Green already had one technical foul in the game, from a foolish incident in the first quarter where he benefitted from a questionable call and then kept jawing at Grant Williams anyways for some reason. A second tech would’ve meant an ejection. According to Javie, the refs had to take that into account.
“You have to consider one player has definitely a technical foul,” Javie said. “Is this enough to call a double T and eject the one player? Personally, I would say nothing and just let it defuse as that.”
Mark Jackson then followed up with Javie to clarify whether a ref is actually taking the fact that Green already had a technical foul into consideration as he’s reviewing the play.
“Absolutely,” Javie said. “I think that’s part of good officiating is the fact that you have to know who has the technical fouls. And in this situation, one of the players does. Is this enough to warrant an ejection, is what you have to think about.”
It felt like a saying-the-quiet-part-out-loud moment. If we’re being honest, none of us are surprised that refs think like that. But to hear a former ref admit it on the sport’s biggest stage? That was pretty surprising.
Because, objectively, that’s not how it should work, regardless of whether Jeff Van Gundy or Steve Javie says it is. If a player who already has a technical foul does something else that warrants a technical foul, he should get a second and be ejected.
How does it make sense that a player who has already been warned should actually be allowed to get away with more than other players? Green had no one to blame but himself for being in that situation. It’s not the refs’ job to protect him from himself.
This isn’t even about whether Green actually deserved a technical for the altercation with Brown. That’s a separate debate. If Javie had just said he didn’t think the incident warranted a technical and left it at that, fine. People could agree or disagree, but there was some grey area here, and arguing that it wasn’t a tech would at least be a defensible position.
Instead, Javie turned it into an indefensible argument by saying that Green already having one technical meant he actually deserved a longer leash. This is the same Green who has a lengthy history of techs, flagrants, ejections and suspensions, including an ejection just two rounds ago.
Ultimately, Green getting to stay in the game isn’t why the Celtics lost. Getting outscored 35-14 in the third quarter is why they lost, and Green getting ejected wouldn’t have magically solved all of Boston’s issues.
Still, Javie’s explanation is not a good look for the league, even if he meant for it to be complimentary of the officiating crew.
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