Steph Curry had already committed two fouls in Friday’s game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and his Golden State Warriors. So, when Cleveland’s Darius Garland was driving to the hoop late in the second quarter, Curry didn’t put up much defense. He did run with Garland to the hoop but clearly had his hands up, not looking to get called for a third foul. It didn’t work.
Garland made the basket and Curry was whistled for the foul. A look at the play showed very little contact. The slight contact appeared to be initiated by Garland and quite frankly, wasn’t significant enough to warrant a foul on either.
Steph called for…something.pic.twitter.com/UfTrWc0zHW
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) November 12, 2022
As is the case in every sport, NBA referees are more closely monitored now than they have ever been before. Calls like this find their way onto social media within seconds and people tend to react strongly. This is especially true when a star player like Curry is involved.
Unsurprisingly, most of the reaction to this foul was negative.
if this is a foul, steph should be living at the free throw line every possession pic.twitter.com/6VxvdOT8Kl
— 🍒 (@stephenist) November 12, 2022
I just rewatched Steph’s 3rd foul. That is to one of the weakest fouls Ive seen in a while. pic.twitter.com/x8aWW7XnCS
— suriaJ (@WairusWara) November 12, 2022
Arms up didn’t react but since it’s steph it’s a foul. This man can’t breathe 😭 https://t.co/LF98tPS9wH
— Gella (@angellalista) November 12, 2022
How is this a foul? Hilarious. Yet, Steph never gets calls on actual contact. https://t.co/EjQLo1CkOf
— Gboye (@mcgboye) November 12, 2022
Wparticularlyualrly interesting here is that Garland didn’t try selling the contact — at least not in a big way. He did continue into the basket but that’s expected when someone is moving at full speed in that direction. Garland either did a poor job of flopping or, more realistically, wasn’t even trying to flop. Yet, the man who was barely guarding him still got a foul called on him.
The tenofy with NBA referees is to be more deferential to the star players when it comes to fouls. Clearly, though, that didn’t happen here.
[Photo Credit: NBC Sports Bay Area]
