“Quite frankly, I really don’t care. As long as it’s called consistently, whether we’re gonna call it tight, we’re gonna call it loose, it’s got to be the same for both teams. That’s all I concern myself with,” said Tom Thibodeau about the officiating in Game 4 of the Knicks-Pistons series. Oh, but he does care. Tom Thibodeau certainly belongs on the list of NBA personalities who call out referees over their alleged inconsistency in officiating from time to time.

Sure, he doesn’t follow them around and shout at them like Draymond Green, but his complaints about the officials have raised concerns about whether they allegedly work against the Knicks. Now, even the fans might end up joining the coach following a missed call in the NY franchise’s recent matchup.

With the recent win, the New York Knicks now hold a 3-1 win record against the defending champions, the Boston Celtics. Despite this huge achievement, however, fans couldn’t help but notice a glaring error during the matchup. As Jayson Tatum was attempting a 2-pointer while being guarded by OG Anunoby, he committed a move that caused the official X account of ‘Hoop Central’ to ask: “Was this a double dribble? 🤔” .

From the looks of it, it seemed to be, as the Celtics star dribbled the ball once, positioned himself to make a shot, and then dribbled it again before jumping to drop a layup. To make matters worse, Tatum drew a foul and drew an ‘and-1’, which meant he got to shoot a free throw after his successful layup. Updates on X showed that the crowd at Madison Square Garden were certainly not pleased after a replay all but confirmed the mistake.

In the end, the double-dribble should not have mattered in the grand scheme of things. After all, the Knicks won the game, and are now just one more win away from eliminating the defending champions and reaching the Conference Finals for the first time since 2000! However, such discrepancies can make the difference in a close game. It cannot be kept ignored. Therefore, fans certainly made their opinions known in the aftermath of the game.

NBA Fans criticize referees over the missed alleged ‘double-dribble’ call: “it’s Tatum so he is allowed”

One social media user wrote “Yes, but it’s Tatum so he is allowed to do it.”

This isn’t the first time that accusations have been raised about the referees siding against the Knicks. Throughout Game 3, Accusations of bias surfaced, with fans writing remarks like “Refs got the Celtics”, and “Will the refs let Celtics do anything they want all day or can we get a foul call? Yeesh”. This claim was made despite the fact that the Celtics only shot 17 free throws, while the Knicks made 35. Nevertheless, it was the Celtics that won that matchup, leaving the critics even more upset about the alleged bias.

One individual wrote, “yes. Refs tryna gives Celtics the win”. There would be no reason for the referees to purposely give the Celtics a win. That is, unless they would allegedly want the series to be extended. From the looks of recent events, fans would be even more convinced that something is suspicious. After all, before Game 4, the NBA announced that Monday night’s Crew Chief was going to be 29-year veteran Scott Foster. Foster is one of the most experienced officials in the league. However, over time, he has obtained the nickname “the extender”. This is due to reports that fans are convinced that Foster is assigned to playoff games when the league wants the series to go longer.

One social media user wrote, “NBA wants the Celtics win and it’s so obvious”. Sure, nothing would make for a better storyline than a team achieving a two-peat. The team being on track to record the league’s first three-peat since the Los Angeles Lakers did it 2 decades ago (2000-2002). However, even despite that double-dribble miss, there is no official evidence to indicate that the referees were in the wrong throughout the game. Neither is there evidence to prove that the league is purposely rigging things to give the Celtics a shot at a two-peat.

One individual wrote “KARMA!”. This was, of course, a reference to the fact that things did not go well overall for Jayson Tatum. Not only did the Boston Celtics lose, but Tatum also went down after a non-contact injury, and was unable to put any weight on his right leg while being helped off the court. Footage captured showed the player being in a wheelchair, face showing him to be in pain, as he was headed to the locker room. The player did not return for the remainder of the game, and is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Tuesday to assess the severity of the apparent right lower-leg injury.

One social media user wrote, “It is but Tatum never gets called for it”. Despite all these claims, Jayson Tatum has also had his moments of disagreement with the referees. After the Game 1 loss against the Knicks, the Celtics forward was quite disappointed with the officiating. While discussing the game, he was asked whether frustrations from not getting calls prevented him from attacking the rim. Tatum responded by saying “No, it isn’t connected at all. It’s the playoffs. We probably should just play without the refs; that’s how physical it is. So no, that doesn’t really cross my mind.” If Tatum does not like the referees, and Knicks fans don’t, then who does?

Overall, the majority of reactions saw fans voicing their opinions against the Game 4 officials and Jayson Tatum. In the end, however, when the Knicks head to the Conference Finals after a quarter century, they will be the happy ones.