“In my 11 years, I haven’t called a ref out by name, but James [Williams] was terrible tonight, through and through.” This post-game comment from Devin Booker was a statement of misconduct aimed toward the officials. The narrative of referees favoring Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder is not new. It reached a new peak when one officiating crew previously wore SGA’s shoes during a previous encounter. Now, former star Rashad McCants doubled down on the issue.

“The same ref that’s wearing the SGA sneakers, he has the ones that you can’t even order online,” during the recent edition of the Gil’s Arenas, McCants stated. He repeated, “He got the ones you can’t even order online. James need to go ahead and stop the bulls–t, James out there bulls—ting. They calling the police on him this time. ‘James, come here. Come on outside. Put your hands up. We got you.'” Another Gil’s Arenas member, Nick Young, piled in on the joke and mocked how the referee would ask SGA for another favor.

“‘If you give me another pair, you know what I’ll do. Send me a box. I guarantee you’ll get to the final.'” It’s not the first time that McCants has called out OKC for their apparent foul baiting. “Their identity has been exposed. Their identity is – ya’ll outplaying guys by fouling and hacking and the refs are allowing them to do certain s–t.” This was his statement a few months ago, where he claimed Thunder would have a hard time competing in the West. But they did, and again earned the #1 seed. Another point that McCants missed was that it was that the referee who wore the SGA shoes and the one T’d up Devin Booker were completely different.

The actual ref caught wearing SGA’s black Converse SHAI 001 “Charm Black” was Karl Lane — in an earlier Lakers vs. Mavericks game (not involving OKC or the Suns). That incident sparked its own controversy and Adidas trolling, but it was unrelated to the Suns-Thunder series. Again, it didn’t turn out to be controversial because NBA refs must wear all-black shoes, often blacked-out running shoes, and Shai 001 fit the bill. From that controversy to the current one has once again a referee and OKC in the mix.

Now, Devin Booker himself called out Williams by name for the overall performance (including the tech after the ball hit Jaylin Williams), but he didn’t mention shoes. And no evidence of James Williams wearing SGA Converse (or anything unusual) in Game 2 has come to light. It seems McCants joined the dots without realizing the scenarios were completely different. D-Book did not mention the sneakers, but he did air his issue.

Devin Booker’s rant puts the spotlight on the NBA

The incident transpired in the third quarter of Game 2 between the Phoenix Suns and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Jaylin Williams bumped Devin Booker out of bounds. And the Suns’ star flipped the ball backward in an attempt to keep it in play. But the ball struck Williams, and the officials initially called a blocking foul on the Thunder. But then Alex Caruso began asking for a technical. Referee James Williams complied, reversing the call and assessing the tech on Booker, and apparently never provided any explanation.

Postgame, Devin Booker went hard about the decision. “In my 11 years, I haven’t called a ref out by name, but James [Williams] was terrible tonight through and through,” he said. “It’s bad for the sport, bad for the integrity of the sport. People are going to start viewing this as the WWE if they’re not held responsible.” Even Suns owner Mat Ishbia matched Booker’s sentiment.

“I am 100% behind Devin Booker here. Last night was not a good look for our league,” Ishbia wrote. “Let me be clear, we didn’t lose because of officiating, but that doesn’t make last night any less important. If the referees are going to demand respect from the players – as they should – then the players should demand respect from the referees.” Since D-Book’s personality is that of one of its most composed, low-drama stars, the comments landed the way they did.