Never in a million years did I think the Sacramento Kings would be on the right end of a complaint about officiating in the NBA, but here we are.
The Kings have always been on the wrong end of the stick when it comes to NBA officiating controversies and, quite honestly, some of the worst moments in league history. Remember DeMarcus Cousins’ rant? That’s an actual thing. And that’s even been the case this season.
So when you hear JJ Redick complaining about how the officiating in the Kings-Warriors series has tilted the Kings way, yeah. It feels pretty laughable.
But JJ was super serious about it, though. On First Take he went on this passionate soliloquy about how the officials have tilted the series.
“The referees have dictated too much in the Kings’ favor in this series, I really believe that.”
JJ Redick on call disparity against the Warriors 🗣️pic.twitter.com/SKdlYDuvMl
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 19, 2023
“The referees have dicated too much in the Kings’ favor in this series. I really believe that. And I don’t know if it’s the home crowd or whatever — I rarely complain about the referees. I don’t know if I’ve ever complained about the referees — I think they’re great. But if they’re going to come back in this series, they’ve got to call the game the way it’s supposed to be called.”
Whew. Redick went off there. You can tell — as he said — he truly believes what he’s saying here. This is wild considering that this is a rant about something going in the Kings’ favorite.
Now, Redick is very good at his job. But this strong take caught me off guard a bit because it just feels…off.
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But look, man. Here’s the deal. The officials have definitely let some things slide in this series. The Kings are certainly playing the Warriors physically, as most teams in the postseason do.
But, if we’re being honest about the officiating, it’s gone both ways through most of the two games we’ve seen these teams play. Just look at the box score.
In Game 2, 26 fouls were called on the Warriors. There were 25 fouls called on the Kings. The Kings shot more free throws than the Warriors — there was a 29-18 disparity there.
But if you compare the shot charts between these two sides, you can see easily see why. Here’s a look at the Warriors’ shot chart from the game.
Only 33 shots came from the paint. The team also shot 40 3-pointers and only made 13 of them.
Meanwhile, on Sacramento’s end, things look a bit different.
The Kings had a whopping 44 of their 92 shots coming in from in the paint. There’s a very clear disparity there. And the Kings also had more opportunities to score and draw fouls because of the Warriors’ wild turnovers.
These games haven’t been officiated perfectly — not by a long shot. But to say the officiating is swinging the series drastically here feels like a reach.
Redick is good at what he does. But he’s off the mark here.
