If there’s one thing that every NBA player can agree on, it’s that NBA officiating isn’t consistent. From game to game it can obviously be different, but many players feel like it’s different from quarter to quarter – including Steph Curry.
After the Warriors lost to the Nuggets on Christmas Day, the topic of the day became NBA officiating and flopping. Steph Curry gave his honest thoughts on the subject, agreeing that it benefits floppers, but also that it needs to be more consistent. Here are his full thoughts.
“It does cater to the guys that can sell calls,” Curry said about NBA officiating. “When there’s physicality, it’s tough because it’s inconsistent at times on either side. What is the tone of the game, from game to game it changes, that’s the nature of basketball. On a night like tonight, you felt like there was physicality on one side and then kinda ticky-tack on the other. Then they get to the bonus and it changes the complexity of the game. It’s not like we don’t foul, I’m not saying that, it’s just consistency is key when it comes to understanding how to defend… it was tough tonight, slowed the whole game. Obviously, he made every free throw. Changed the momentum.”
NBA officiating has definitely needed a retooling for over the last decade, not just last night. Year by year, it trends more toward benefitting flopping and makes it harder to play legitimate defense. The problem is that all the players who complain, do it themselves, and only complain when it doesn’t benefit them. Steph Curry definitely isn’t wrong, but he’s also been on the receiving end of some flopping calls himself.
It’s hard to say what the solution would be to fix both the officiating and the flopping problem in the NBA. If refs stopped rewarding it though, that would definitely be a start.
