Where ‘ridiculous’ Devin Booker ref drama lands among NBA’s 10 most controversial calls of 2025-26 season appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Regardless of the sport, it’s never good when officials become the headline. However, that was unfortunately the case, again, after Devin Booker ’s tirade about James Williams following a 120-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder . Saving a loose ball is apparently now a technical foul-level sin against the game, if it comes against the NBA’s defending champs . It’s hard to argue otherwise after Alex Caruso ’s lobbying efforts worked. The Phoenix Suns , already the underdogs, had every right to be upset; even a banged-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander does not need any extra help in the NBA Playoffs, especially on the last two-minute report.
Beyond the loss, Booker’s comments crystallized a season-long tension between NBA players, the National Basketball Referee Association (NBRA), and the league office. Oklahoma City ’s antics have gone too far, and officials are responsible for reigning them in. But there were always bound to be some blunders. Some just meant more to the game. Mark Cuban didn’t care about Kevin Durant ’s phantom timeout in 2025, for example. Neither should fans. It all evens out in the end.
Important, game-swinging calls deserve a bit of a spotlight going into the postseason, though, if only as learning vehicles for the future. No one wants the NBA Finals decided on a judgment call technicality. These 10 instances should be on the low-light tape when the officials gather for a debrief this summer.
The 2025-26 NBA season was less than 24 hours old when the NBA’s officiating problems popped up. Zion Williamson ’s New Orleans Pelicans got juked by Ja Morant’s Memphis Grizzlies , but the Last Two Minute Report flagged a foul that should never have been called. With Morant attacking the basket, Herb Jones was whistled for a shooting foul despite maintaining clean contact.
Morant knocked down both free throws, pushing the lead to 120-117 at a pivotal late moment. The Pelicans went on to lose 128-122, with Jeremiah Fears getting fooled by the All-Star at the end, adding insult to injury. The league’s report, released the following day, confirmed the call was simply wrong. Replays showed as much, but it did not matter. It also would not be the last time the L2M said so in 2025-26.
Late in the fourth quarter, still finding some traction early in the season. The Minnesota Timberwolves are hanging on, but hope is running out with every second in what would become a 116-110 loss to the Grizzlies on December 17. Chris Finch watched what many believed were two late blown calls determine the game’s outcome. Anthony Edwards was all but forgotten as the head coach’s in-the-moment evaluation of the officials went viral.
Camera microphones caught the full exchange as Finch cornered Zach Zarba on the sideline. “You just blew two calls,” Finch could be heard saying. “You f—ing know it. You f—ing know it.”
One of the missed calls was a simple intentional foul to stop the clock with under a minute remaining. Still, tell the NBRA how you really feel.
Officials starting off the season slowly is slightly forgivable. A month into the job? Well, the week before Christmas was not the best of the NBRA, apparently. Three incorrect calls in the final 100 seconds of overtime favored the Denver Nuggets in their 128-125 win over the Houston Rockets on December 15, 2025. If the Rockets win that game, these two are the fourth and fifth seeds, with the Los Angeles Lakers moving up to fourth. This might be the one game that really changes the shape of the NBA Playoffs.
Ime Udoka told reporters after the game it was the “most poorly officiated (he’d) seen in a long time,” specifically targeting two officials by saying they had “no business being out there” and accusing crew chief Zach Zarba of “acting starstruck” around former NBA MVP Nikola Jokic .
The NBA fined Udoka $25,000. It then released the L2M report. Fouls were incorrectly assessed against Kevin Durant and Amen Thompson , and a foul against Tim Hardaway Jr. that should have been called and wasn’t. Unfortunately, that sequence (fine the coach, confirm the coach was right) has become a recurring pattern in the league’s officiating crisis, drawing criticism from analysts who argue the L2M report exists largely as a paper acknowledgment that changes nothing.
The NBRA stands by their stats. Over 96% of their whistles are correct. That’s backed up, mostly, but it’s the no-calls that many are worried about. Too much carrying, too much uncontrolled defense by Lu Dort, something has to give before someone else gets hurt. Jaylen Brown ’s head bumping with Keyonte George is probably the best example. One wrong turn and the Boston Celtics might not have even been in the position to bring Jayson Tatum back for an NBA Finals run.
George got ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup hype with a slide tackle on Brown in the final seconds. The Celtics watched a one-point lead evaporate when the Jazz hit a game-winner. It would not be the last time Bean Town was bullying referees. After Boston’s 100-95 loss to Victor Wembanyama ’s Spurs, Brown called out crew chief Curtis Blair, saying the crew “got away with a lot,” and accused them of allowing physical defense without calls.
Brown also told reporters, “I’ll accept the fine at this point… I thought it was some bulls— tonight.”
The NBA subsequently fined Brown $35,000. What makes this entry notable is what the foul-call discrepancy data showed that night: the calls were difficult to defend on film. The incident also previewed Brown’s increasingly fraught relationship with NBA officiating that would boil over spectacularly in March.
Brown ripped the officials after losing to the Spurs in January. He found himself at the center of an odd officiating controversy once again during March Madness, again after facing the Spurs. The All-Star drove near the sideline before being tangled up by Stephon Castle and Wembanyama. They all went stumbling out of bounds, the ball lost in the process. No foul was called. Brown approached crew chief Tyler Ford to argue the play.
What happened next became the most-discussed officiating moment of the season’s second half. A second official, Suyash Mehta, walked across the court and issued Brown a second technical foul. The involvement of a referee who was not a part of the original action was criticized immediately. It also triggered an automatic ejection.
Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid learned the hard way that criticizing Scott Foster costs money. During a wild overtime win against Houston, Reid was ejected by Foster for arguing a charge call. The NBA slapped Reid with a $50,000 fine, not for the argument, but for “questioning the integrity of the game.”
Reid’s sin? Looking at Foster and saying, “Stop that s—, bro. He’s moving.”
Others suggested it was “stop cheating,” which would explain the fine. To add insult to injury, beyond the Reid ejection, the Rockets-Wolves L2M report highlighted a disastrous night for Foster’s crew. The league’s own L2M report noted six total missed calls in the final minutes, including a critical error where Julius Randle was called for a foul on Durant despite “maintaining verticality.”
The crew also missed a critical foul on Alperen Sengun that should have fouled him out as well. Getting these calls right would have tightened the race for the fifth seed down the stretch.
Getting back to the NBA Playoffs, LaMelo Ball was fined $35,000 and assessed a retrospective Flagrant 2 for contact with Bam Adebayo . The controversy centered on the fact that no whistle was blown in real-time, allowing a Heat fast break to continue while the former Defensive Player of the Year remained down on the floor. Hindsight counterarguments called for Ball to be immediately ejected from the NBA Play-In Tournament for safety’s sake.
During a heated December 2025 matchup against the Suns, LeBron James made physical contact with an official while protesting a play involving Dillon Brooks . James placed his hands on referee Scott Twardoski, prompting discussion about a missed ejection, since the future first-ballot Hall of Famer only received a technical foul. This scuffle capped a night where Phoenix was down 20, then up by one, only to lose as James made free throws.
After 51 fouls, 68 free throw attempts, and a Dillon Brooks ejection, the Lakers won 116-114. Fans in Phoenix were beyond livid. The Lakers took 43 free throws compared to 25 for the Suns. Letting the teams combine for 51 fouls while losing control on a ‘legacy’ play was too much for the NBRA to ignore.
There is a whisper going around NBA scouting circles: We’ve seen the last of Chef Curry in the NBA Playoffs. Stephen Curry ’s postseason curtain call was this year’s NBA Play-In Tournament. Some of that stems from an inability to protect smaller guards, a trend the NBRA hopes to push back on next season.
On December 12, Curry was downright furious after being called for a foul on Jaden McDaniels . It was clear to everyone that McDaniels yanked Curry to the court during a loose-ball scramble. It doesn’t stop there either. Curry returned from a 27-game absence for a runner’s knee on Easter Sunday, April 5, and nearly led Golden State’s comeback from 15 points down against the Rockets.
The following day, the NBA confirmed three incorrect non-calls in the final two minutes. The most glaring was with 1:28 remaining, when Amen Thompson jumped into Curry and initiated clear body contact on a driving layup. Curry made the basket and was knocked to the ground. He raised his arms. No whistle. The league’s report confirmed Thompson should have been called for a shooting foul.
While meaningless in the standings, it was a bitter reminder of what the L2M report itself conceded: the game should have ended differently. It should have been called differently as well. Curry can only take so much more punishment before the retirement tour.
Referee intervention in rookie Adou Thiero ’s first NBA basket killed any goodwill for the NBRA’s workforce. Really? You want to rob a rookie of a lifetime achievement moment? Over a ball that can be replaced for less than the per diem money spent on meals? Come on!
Officials tried to stop the rookie from keeping the game ball after his debut score, prompting intervention from Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo . This just lends more credence to the conspiracies that it’s all about who you know in this business!
The NBA has not yet announced a fine for Booker’s comments, but given the severity of his “WWE” comparison, the league office is expected to act swiftly. For a season already marred by L2M apologies and “ridiculous” technicals, the latest Thunder incident stands as a symbol of the growing rift between the league’s stars and its officiating crews. While intended to provide accountability, the reports often serve as a frustrating admission of error for teams losing games on technicalities that cannot be fixed.
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