The vast majority of references we make to NBA referees connote a mistake of some sort. Whether it’s a blown call, or buffoonish behavior, it’s not often a ref makes news — the best ones are never heard from at all. But Mike Callahan got our attention for a good reasons during yesterday’s Knicks-Lakers game when a Knicks t-shirt — presumably from a cheerleader’s cannon — fell on the floor during play.
You know the t-shirts we’re talking about. They’re the cheap polyester kind that don’t fit grown men; except teenagers sitting in thousand-dollar suites will bite a stranger’s arm to acquire one when the Knicks City Dancers are firing them into the crowd from the air cannon.
One such garment found it’s way onto the court during New York’s 92-80 win over the Lakers on Sunday afternoon. So the ref stopped play, grabbed the tee and handed to an adorable little kid sitting near the court.
Refs are generally solid guys performing an incredibly difficult job under the glare of TV cameras and impassioned fans with little patience for a call they view as wrong (usually without knowing the real rules). For every egomaniac move during the game, there’s a sequence like this one from Callahan.
He made that kids day.
What do you think?
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