Sports fans always cry “foul” whenever there is a “phantom foul” in the

NBA. As a fan, you love to see it go your way, and as someone rooting for

the opposing team, you despise those moments, as a LeBron James or

Kobe Bryant head to the line with a smug smirk like they just unlocked an

achievement on Xbox. You slowly feel your stomach turn.

There’s no problem with fouls, they’re apart of the game and sometimes

refs just make a genuine mistake; but other times it’s a game changer

and that is where there’s a problem.

When it’s blatantly obvious that there is no foul and the basket makes it,

this over-powered, over-enthusiastic ref for the home team still calls the

“phantom call.”

On Saturday, April 17, the Philadelphia 76er’s won every statistical

category, except rebounds and blocks against the Miami Heat. Miami

made 31 baskets, Philadelphia made 35; Miami made four three pointers,

Philadelphia made seven.

The heat even committed more turnovers than the Sixers with 13 to

Philly’s 8.

Miami, however, did win the free throw game, hitting 31 of 39.

The Sixers, you say? How many free throws did they have, you ask? 15.

15 free throws for an entire 48 minute basketball game. An NBA level

team, in the post-season, only got 15 free throws and the sad thing is

they only made 12.

The Heat, on the other hand, somehow managed to hit the same amount

of baskets as they did free throws. “King” James was an abysmal 4 for 14

from the floor, but went almost perfect from the line at 13 for 14.

Mathematically, that means on seven shots or drives to the basket, there

was a foul on the shot and he only took 14 shots. That’s half of his shots

that resulted in fouls!

That to me as a fan-boy of the game and someone who plays in street 5

on 5’s (where there are no fouls and every basket is earned) is absolutely

ludicrous.

I’m a Celtics fan so trying to defend rival Philly is hard, but as a fan and

someone who likes to examine the finer points, it’s awful when you think,

“how does a coach, who knows his team won explain what happened? Is

it ‘hey guys, you won but the refs didn’t quite feel that way.'” Honestly,

that is the only way you can explain it.

There was a time in the NBA when things were gritty. Guys like Bill Russell

and Wilt Chamberlin fought for their supremacy and when teams like the

Detroit Pistons, who won back-to-back championships in 89′-90′, were

referred to as the ‘Bad Boy Pistons’ because they would flat out hurt

someone coming through the lane. Even Michael Jordan, who did get a lot

of free throws, made sure it was a legit foul and he usually made some

amazing “back to the basket” layup.

I’m not saying I want to see blood and guts all over the court and I am especially

not saying the refs are not doing their jobs; all I’m saying is let these

guys play the game like they used to; when baskets were earned, and not

handed to some over paid “star” with a sense of entitlement because the

media and public have dubbed him “King.”