NBA referee assignments for conference Finals explored
This year's NBA playoffs has seen some incredible back-and-forth action from some of the league's most elite teams, along with teams that are even considered as underdogs like the Miami Heat.
With the Lakers closing out the second-round series against the Golden State Warriors in 6 games, the league now awaits the outcome of Game 7 between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers before announcing the referee assignments for both the Eastern and Western Conference Finals.
After an 82-game season, the NBA announced its list of 36 referee assignments for the playoffs as it comprises an average of 16 years of league experience. The NBA revealed its 36 referee officials for the postseason with 28 already having 10 years of experience along with 22 officials having five or more years of experience.
For the first-round matchups, there are 16 referees with 50 or more postseason ball games officiated, including 28 officials with 10 or more years of league experience. To determine the referree assignments for the second and third round, along with the Finals, the league assesses the performances of each official before making an announcement before each round begins.
The assessment includes the following: play-calling accuracy, team rankings and NBA Referee Operations graded rankings.
Game 5 moment between Warriors' Draymond Green and NBA Referee
Following the Game 5 victory of the Golden State Warriors against the Los Angeles Lakers, Draymond Green spoke on "The Draymond Green Show" podcast and addressed why he was not given a technical foul by NBA referee Zach Zarba for talking intensely to him.
"I saw people saying, 'Aw, man, Draymond asked for a tech, and he didn't get a tech,'" Green said. "The reason I didn't get a tech is because what Zach was telling me that he was going to tech me for talking to the other team, not for talking to him. To have a great official like Zach Zarba, to understand that the emotions in this game is extremely high, that's huge."
Green is known for having infamous altercations with referee officials throughout his career, and on a critical Game 5, emotions were at an all-time high. To which, Green gave Zarba a ton of credit because he could have been ejected for talking intensely to him, but understood the gravity of implications that the ball game had for both teams, who were both competing at a high level.