The official Twitter account of the National Basketball Referees Association has been interesting to monitor since its creation. Most of the time, its content is rather harmless, with announcements of which referee crews will operate during games and social media highlights of quality work being done in the community. However, Brian Windhorst of ESPN brings word that there will be more attention paid to the account in the near future, as real, live NBA refs “will answer questions about calls in real time over Twitter” for some games down the stretch of the season.
The initiative was (briefly) rolled out, at least in some form, during the 2018 NBA Finals and, as the ESPN report notes, “feedback on the experiment was positive.” Still, this won’t be met with universal approval online (nothing really is), especially if a controversial call occurs on a grand stage and fans of the aggrieved team flood the zone to express their displeasure.
The first two games on the agenda take place on ESPN, with Monday’s tilt between the Warriors and Lakers as the first foray and Wednesday’s Spurs-Sixers game as the follow-up. Given the nationally televised nature of these contests, it is safe to assume that the referees will be under the spotlight on social media but, to aid in their ability to do this as well as possible, ESPN notes that the NBA itself will allow access to the replay center, giving them all of the available information to work with in sharing their viewpoint with the masses.
In the end, this is a good idea that encourages transparency, especially if implemented correctly and in real time. There will always be groups that are willfully ignorant to the actual implementation of league rules — particularly when calls go against certain teams — and, in fairness, there is a chance that the folks operate the official Twitter account may, in fact, mess something up along the way. Still, this is an intriguing idea and it might actually encourage the spread of accurate information when it comes to the intricacies of officiating.
