Recently, LeBron James, James Harden, and Draymond Green have made headlines by complaining about not receiving foul calls they believe they deserved or about foul calls they received that they shouldn't have gotten. A reason for the recent inconsistencies in foul calls can stem from a number of veteran referees who have retired recently and an influx of young referees who have taken their place. While bringing youth to the referee corp has been a revelation adding such inexperience to such a more complicated game can be part of the reason why calls are being made as they are. The game of basketball has changed. It has gotten faster and more spread out with players darting for the 3 point line while the big man tries to take up space in the paint. Such spacing is very difficult even for 3 sets of eyes on the court. This is why the replay system has made it such that replay challenges are taken care of off site in Secaucus, New Jersey and not on the court.
Watching the speed that this game has evolved to has been dramatic. In 2003 the Dallas Mavericks lead all of the NBA with 96.7 plays per 100 possessions if that Mavericks team were to be around this season they would be ranked 28th. Gone are the days of super stars getting super star calls. When players with notoriety would get phantom calls and preferential treatment against players who don't necessarily have the power that either James would command. Star players will always get a call here and there, but not to the extent that they were handed out back before the veteran refs retired and the hot shot kids came to play. I'm not making excuses for refs, they should be better at their jobs, but let's not make it seem like its Joe Crawford out there running up and down the court.
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