In case you haven't heard, Kobe Bryant nailed a jumper at the overtime buzzer last night to lift the Lakers past the Bucks. It was a clutch shot by the league's best player.
With :50 seconds left in OT and the Lakers trailing by 4, Bryant drove into the lane and plowed into Andrew Bogut (scroll 2 minutes into the above video). A clear-cut charge in my mind, and a call even the most passionate Lakers fan would have a hard time arguing against. But the refs didn't see it that way.
Here's my beef – the whistle blows upon contact. All three refs stand around and look at one another. It appears that each one is hoping the other will call the charge on Mr. Bryant, but none of them has the balls to do it. The refs confer – and voila – they call a block on Bogut.
This isn't about my hatred for Kobe and the Lakers (okay, maybe a little bit), it's about the ridiculous behavior of the referees. If the play involved any other player, the ref closest to the action would have made the call instantly.
It's this type of behavior that gives credibility to Tim Donaghy and fuels conspiracy theories.
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