“It exhausts me. One thousand percent more than any defense. You get distracted and waste energy yelling at the refs.” Even Stephen Curry, a player known for his calm demeanor, recently admitted to sometimes losing it over referees’ officiating. Things got so frustrating for him that the player revealed “I’ve thrown a mouthpiece or two … or three … or four”. The ongoing NBA season has witnessed such frustrating moments emerge for other stars too, including Anthony Edwards and even Steve Kerr. However, for someone who has reportedly endured wrong calls throughout his 16-year NBA career, Curry is ready to see some changes be implemented among the officials.
The All-Star Weekend is currently taking place right in the Bay Area, after a quarter century. Therefore, it would be hard for the Golden State Warriors’ lead star, Stephen Curry, to not be the main focus. During a Q&A session, the Three-Point Leader was asked about anything different he would like to see in the league. This led to the player proposing that the “refs grading system” become a matter of public knowledge. Curry theorized that the rankings could be shown like players’ stats are shown daily. Curry made it clear that his wish is to “not to like make their jobs harder because it’s a really hard job”. Instead, his sympathy would extend more if, “from a fan or player perspective to know what makes a good refs, rate their systems a little bit, I’m curious about that”.
These remarks come in the aftermath of the current NBA season having reached its halfway point. Within that period itself, the player had to endure several referee calls and decisions that were ultimately challenged either directly, or by visible disdain on the team members’ faces.
Back in January, the Golden State Warriors went up against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Stephen Curry and co took home the win by a 1-point margin. However, the gap could have been more. After all, as 6:09 minutes remained in the 3rd quarter, Steph drove to the basket, got close to the paint, and shot but was fouled by J McDaniels. The referees did not call out a shooting foul initially. After protests from Steph, he was awarded free throws. The calls even earned the referees verbal criticism from the broadcaster, who said, “They’re so inconsistent with this…. Steph was at least in the upward motion at least 2 free throws they gave Edwards. Steph is in the upward motion at least. Tony Brothers just said that ‘We just gave it to the Timberwolves not too long ago in continuation’”.
The broadcaster also added “That’s all these players want is consistency.,.. Sometimes in game they haven’t been consistent.”
This was one instance. Prior to that, Curry was unhappy with the referees during the NBA Cup quarter-final matchup against the Houston Rockets. During the final minute of the 1st quarter, the Warriors star made a successful 3-pointer shot. Later, he called out the referee for not ruling a foul call in his favor, as Curry was vigorously guarded during that 3-point attempt. The referee reportedly later acknowledged his mistake, even making an apologetic gesture towards Chef Curry.
And these were just amongst the ‘injustice’ Curry suffered just this year. Longtime NBA fans cannot forget the Warriors-Jazz matchup from February 2018, when the Warriors went up against the Utah Jazz. Down by around 10 points, Curry had taken advantage of some good spacing by Patrick McCaw and Javale McGee, and attempted to score.
However, Alec Burks famously reached out and grabbed the front of Curry’s chest! Not only did it prevent the play, but it also wounded Curry, as he would later highlight in a social media post. Burks then reportedly wrapped both arms around Curry and pulls their bodies back together. No whistle blew. Everything was all right in front of the baseline referee. Certainly a ‘Ripley’s Believe it or Not’ moment!
In light of all this, Stephen Curry is not wrong to ask for some accountability in regard to the referees. It would make the games for him a more worthwhile experience, knowing that something is not afoul. At the same time, it would prevent Ayesha from preventing him in public.
Ayesha Curry had to hilariously defend Stephen Curry against any ‘crybaby’ insinuations
Remember that Warriors-Timerwolves matchup that took place in January? Well, a few days after that, Stephen Curry’s wife appeared for an interview on Sherri Shepperd’s show. The discussion soon shifted towards Ayesha and Steph’s son, Canon. The host asked if the 3-year-old got punished ever for denying doing a bad thing he did. This caused Ayesha to highlight how she was like Canon at a young age. To give an example, she recalled denying writing on the carpet at school. It wasn’t a convincing lie, given that evident that Ayesha had written her name on the carpet!
Ayesha stated that since she did, Canon would also soon overgrow that habit. However, Sherri wasn’t so sure. She said, “Well I don’t know, if you’re going to grow out of it, cuz I saw Steph on the court, and they say ‘You foul’, he goes ‘I didn’t do it’. So….”. Yes, you can take a moment to say ‘WOW’ out loud! However, Ayesha did not take a break. She instantly countered with a “He did not, Sherri”.
Sherri and other critics would be silenced if Curry had proof of his innocence through the NBA referees’ data. For now, Adam Silver has not indicated anything of the nature that would point to the grading system becoming public knowledge. Therefore, in the meantime, all Curry could do is continue making his case.
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