The discussion around refereeing in sports does not feel like it’s ever truly going away. Thanks to the speed and physicality of the games, it is impossible for the officials to be 100% accurate. But, with the number of judgment calls that define basketball, NBA referees, in particular, have to face a lot of flak from fans when the calls are questionable and/or go against their team.
The start of the 2025-26 season has brought those same ideas to the forefront. A few calls have been particularly egregious, like Gary Trent Jr.’s clutch 3-point attempt or the Oklahoma City Thunder’s timeout call, both of which became significant controversies immediately. With the focus on the league brighter than ever in light of the gambling scandal, a former player had some cold, hard facts that stood against the referees.
Curious Case Against the NBA Referees
As the game has shifted its focus to being more offense-oriented, or “soft,” as many former players try to frame it, the referees’ jobs have only gotten tougher. Players often bait for fouls to exploit the rules and gain an advantage.
It has led to a league-wide problem with the correct calls and how the officials must do their jobs. But the blame isn’t squarely on the players alone. Tim Legler argued that the referees are also at fault quite a few times.
Despite going undrafted in the 1988 draft, he had a 12-year playing career in the NBA. During that time, he competed, won the 3-point contest, and developed a startling reputation as one of the world’s best media personalities and analysts.
A week into the 2025-26 season, though, his focus was on the officials and the job they had been doing, during a conversation with The Ringer, with three interesting statistics to illustrate his point.
Firstly, “There are 27 teams in the league committing more fouls per night than the league leader last year.” That, in and of itself, was a baffling number, but what made it worse was that, of those 27 teams, “There are 10 teams averaging 30+ free throw attempts a game.”
For comparison, no team eclipsed that mark last season. Finally, though, Legler brought his biggest statistic: “Right now, there are 11 players taking 10+ free throws a game.”
Three WILD Officiating Stats One Week Into the NBA Season 👀@LegsESPN shares three eye-opening officiating stats, but who’s to blame: the refs or sloppy defensive play? pic.twitter.com/5NkD2eyUcx
— The Ringer (@ringer) October 29, 2025
Again, by comparison, Giannis Antetokounmpo was the only player to hit that mark last season. However, the blame did not lie solely on the refs. “I actually think it’s because of the lack of discipline defensively.”
Legler’s biggest criticisms of the startling foul numbers were unnecessary contacts on drives and the defenders’ inability to resist the bait of a head fake.
But that didn’t take away from the fact that sometimes the bait was going too far, leading to the flops that have become all too commonplace in the league. Despite the NBA trying to minimize such attempts by enforcing penalties, the situation wasn’t fully going away, and it was reflected in insane numbers.
