Friday, June 1, 2018

Why replay stinks

And, OK, first off, a Blob disclaimer: I have no dog in the NBA Finals hunt. None.

I like LeBron James. I like Steph Curry and Steve Kerr and the Warriors, love the way they play basketball.

But hosed is hosed. And last night, in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, LeBron 'n' them got hosed.

They got hosed when, with the Cavs leading by two with 40 seconds remaining, he stepped in to draw a charge on Kevin Durant. He was clearly -- clearly, from every conceivable angle -- well outside the crescent-shaped charge line in the lane when he did it. It was also pretty clearly a charge on Durant, who couldn't have more blatantly run over LeBron if he'd been driving a bulldozer.

Whistle. Charge on Durant. Nothing to see here, right?

Wrong. Even though the call was the right one, and even though it wasn't remotely in question, they went to the video replay. Decided ... well, I don't know what they decided, because the charge line wasn't in play on the, well, play. In any case, they decided it was a block instead of a charge, and reversed the call.

Durant stepped to the line, hit the free throws, and we all know what happened after that. The Warriors got it to overtime when J.R. Smith inexplicably dribbled out the clock for Cleveland with the score tied, and then the Warriors won by 10 despite LeBron dropping 51 on them.

Replay played a huge role in making that happen.

Replay that should never have been engaged on the play to begin with.

Replay that reversed a correct call.

Tell me again how it's supposed to ensure officials get calls right. I'll wait.

Then I'll laugh.

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