Playing on a ball club known for having players on it who are not afraid to complain to a referee when they think they were slighted by a call, star Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown is something of an exception when it comes to that sort of thing, rivaled by only Derrick White and Al Horford when it comes to not giving officials a hard time in green and white.
So Brown’s words should probably carry extra weight when he does complain. And after Monday night’s controversial loss to the Indiana Pacers, Brown did just that. A call in the game’s waning seconds with the score tied shifted what was originally called a foul that could have sealed the game for Boston into a possession and ultimately a win for Indiana upon review.
Brown, who was attacking the basket, saw a foul called on Pacers guard Buddy Hield due to contact with the Georgia native’s head — contact he would admit to Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla he thought was a foul as well — reversed, confusingly, upon review.
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The Player’s Union vice president took issue with that ending in a very public way postgame, an uncharacteristic response if ever there was one from Brown.
“I asked (the ref) again, ‘Are you sure (you are reversing the foul)?’ and he said, ‘Yes.'” said the Cal alum via The Athletic’s Jared Weiss.
“And that’s what pissed me off. I know I got hit in the head. And you see on the replay, it’s pretty obvious I got hit in the head. Then you look me in my eye and tell me that I didn’t. I think that needs to be investigated. Cost my team a game.”
“Of course I’m pissed about it,” he emphasized.
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— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 9, 2024
In the postgame media sessions, even Mazzulla seemed agitated and repeatedly referenced the next day’s last two minute report, a regular league publication on the calls made by referees in the closing moments of a game.
Perhaps within it, there will be additional details which elucidate why a call was reversed despite the lay understanding that overwhelming evidence needs to be visible in order to overturn such a call — especially with the game potentially in the balance.
It doesn’t sound like anyone on Boston’s bench on Monday night expects to see that, though. It did indeed look like there was contact.
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— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 9, 2024
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