Officiating and referees have been the talk of the town in the NBA for the last few years. It has only intensified in the last few days, with Jaylen Brown controversially getting ejected and the Los Angeles Lakers talisman, Luka Dončić, being slapped with hefty fines for a questionable gesture toward the referees, citing bias against the Purple and Gold. Refereeing standards have been a point of concern for the entire season. Recently, Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban shared his perspective on the matter, raising eyebrows.

Cuban, who has been vocal about the NBA’s refereeing standards for decades, recently appeared on the Adam Friedland Show podcast, where he criticized the NBA officiating management. “I got along with Scott Foster. I would give him s**t, and he would yell at me back… But the problem was always the people who managed them; they’re the idiots. They still don’t know what they’re doing.”

NBA referees have been under the scanner now more than ever, with star players openly questioning the officials for favoritism and bias towards certain teams. The NBA needs to step in and hold its referees accountable otherwise things may go south in no time. While the gesture from Doncic was unwarranted, it caught the NBA’s attention immediately because it was a straight question on their credibility. Hence, he was fined immediately.

Oversight of the NBA Referee Operations Department falls under the Senior Vice President of Referee Development and Training. It’s their job to distribute assignments to the referees and to hold them accountable for any errors. Using software, they examine their decisions and then form game teams by balancing experienced leaders with innovative individuals. When choosing a referee for a crew, key factors to consider include their recent accuracy ratings, physical fitness assessments, past team interactions, and how close they are geographically to minimize travel.

In an era where NBA players, including LeBron James, are demanding fairness and consistency from NBA referees, Cuban highlights issues that lie at the management levels where there’s no accountability. The Mavs owner has been extremely vocal about refereeing standards. He had a crash out this season on them for mistreating Mavericks rookie sensation, Cooper Flagg.

Mavs owner Mark Cuban hits back at NBA referees, demands better treatment for Cooper Flagg

The Dallas Mavericks may have lost Luka Doncic to a horrific trade to the Lakers, but they have secured one of the best young talents in the league in the form of Cooper Flagg. In his rookie season, the former Duke graduate has shown his level. He has been leading the Mavericks throughout the season during phases when Anthony Davis was sidelined with injury. With Kyrie Irving sitting out the entire season, Flagg has been the main man for them in his first year in the NBA.

The 19-year-old forward is on course to win the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award as he has been consistently dropping one memorable performance after another. He uses his body, frame, and agility to create chances. He takes a lot of hits on a nightly basis, which has not reflected on his free-throw stat. Therefore, Mavs head coach Jason Kidd and owner Cuban have called out the NBA referees to be more vigilant. Cuban even started a campaign against the referee, asking the Mavs fanbase to post videos of obvious no-calls while tagging the NBA Refs’ official handle.

“When every touch was a foul last month, [Flagg] didn’t get any calls,” Cuban wrote. “Then the crew chiefs made the decision there should be more physicality, changing how they call the games mid-season, like they did a couple years ago. So now not only does Coop still not get any calls, he gets hammered more often.”

“We need help from Mavs Nation. When you see an obvious no-call on a drive, post it here, there and everywhere and tag @OfficialNBARefs,” he added as a call to action.

It is not often that someone of Cuban’s stature is urging the fans to start a movement against the referees in the NBA. But there’s hardly any other option that he has to stop the referees from mistreating Flagg. Therefore, he channeled his frustration into a movement, and the Mavs were fully onboard.