By Joshua Shumpert, Sports Management, 25′
January 12,2024 was a very interesting way to end the night for the New York Knicks as they felt they were cheated out of a game and they aren’t going to let that happen apparently. The Knicks close 105-103 loss to Houston at Madison Square Garden on Monday night caused controversy. It’s not just controversy in the game but around the league and in the social media world as well. In the last seconds of a tied game, Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson was penalized for a foul, allowing the Rockets to take free throws and win. In the Video replays and the NBA’s pool report from the game provide an another perspective. The league admitted that the foul call on Brunson was “incorrect” and that the Rockets should not have been awarded free throws.
Admitting the referees’ mistakes is understandable, but it comes at a cost. With the score tied at 103, Rockets guard Aaron Holiday collected a blocked shot from deep beyond the 3-point line. As the clock ticked down, Holiday attempted a last-second heave with one hand to get the shot in before the buzzer. The shot did not fall, but a whistle was issued for Brunson, who was penalized for a foul on Holiday while contesting the shot. Despite the call on the court, replays showed Brunson making slight contact after Holiday had already taken the shot. Under typical circumstances, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau would have contested the call, but New York had already utilized the coach’s challenge earlier in the game. Holiday ended up getting to shoot 3 free throws with 0.5 seconds left were he made the first two to get the lead and he missed the 3rd in order for the time to go out.
The Knicks are at a pivotal point in their season because they are currently the 4th seed in the East and that game there started a downward spiral for the Knicks as they started a 4 game losing streak, which is why they are protesting the call. This isn’t the first time that a call has been protested the Portland Trail Blazers protested a call because coach Chauncey Billups wanted to call a timeout when point guard Malcolm Brogan was pinned at the line with 15 seconds left in the 4th. When this happened Billups was trying to call a timeout but the ref didn’t see him and Brogdon ended up being called for a double dribble. Billups was obviously upset and ended up being assessed two technical fouls and was ejected from the game.
A protest in the NBA is an attempt by a team to have a segment of the game replayed due to wrong rulings or other rule misapplications. Teams who file a protest must pay $10,000, though they will receive it back if the appeal is successful.Teams have 48 hours to file a protest and five days to provide evidence to support it. The protest is then assessed by the president of league operations and that office, with the NBA commissioner providing the final decision. If the protest is successful, the relevant portion of the game is replayed, which is usually only a tiny portion of the fourth quarter. There have been eight games overturned due to a protest that actually made there be a replay of the final minutes of the game. Since 1982, only one protested game has been successful. In 2007, the Heat filed a protest after Shaquille O’Neal was dismissed for six fouls. However, O’Neal only got five fouls, allowing him to continue playing.The last 51.3 seconds of overtime, which began on December 19, 2007, were replayed on March 8, 2008. By that time, however, O’Neal had been dealt from Miami to Phoenix. The Heat originally lost 114-111 then fell again by the same score in the replay. Only three times in NBA history have the winners been changed due to a protest. I agree with this rule and even though you don’t see as often I feel that it should be incorporated more when necessary. They are looked at very closely because these are active games.
