The no-call on Sidy Cissoko's screen was right, and the people losing their minds over it are the last ones on earth who should.
Portland beat the Thunder 118-108 on Wednesday, and the moment everyone's talking about is a viral clip that appears to show Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hitting the floor on a Cissoko screen, with the Oklahoma City broadcast reacting incredulously to the no-call. The clip is everywhere now, the booth audibly furious. The outrage is loud. It's also hollow.
Start with the play, since it matters, as far as anyone can tell from a clip. Wide screens get whistled offensive in plenty of gyms, and the league is inconsistent about policing them. That's a real conversation, but OKC's booth was having a different one entirely. They wanted the whistle, the one they've gotten all year.
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RatingSGA has spent the past year as the most-discussed foul-baiter in basketball, and it isn't fringe bloggers saying it. Doris Burke called him a "free throw merchant" on a national broadcast during the Thunder's series with Minnesota. Scott Van Pelt said watching him "hit the deck and game the game and get foul calls is not a ton of fun. It just isn't." Mike Brown, coaching against him, said SGA "does a great job of convincing the referees, probably better than anybody in the league, that he's getting hit." Jay Williams and Max Kellerman have piled on too. These are people in unrelated booths and buildings arriving at the same read off the same film.
When you've built that reputation, you don't get to play the victim the one night the whistle stays quiet. The referees have clearly started making SGA earn it on marginal contact. That's the bill finally coming due.
RTGThe box score from this very game makes the whining worse. SGA still went 13-for-14 from the free throw line on his way to 31 points. On a night Oklahoma City wants you to believe the officials robbed them, their star had a near-perfect night at the stripe. Nobody gets to live at the free throw line and cry about a no-call in the same box score.
Oklahoma City isn't alone in this, which is the only thing that keeps the Thunder booth from being the single worst offender in the league. Portland's own announcers have run the identical routine, groaning on air about an opponent spending more time on the floor than anybody they've ever seen. Homer broadcasters crying about a no-call is just weather in the NBA. No fan base has been told more often, by more credible voices, that its star games the whistle.
So no, I don't care that one screen might have been a touch wide. Portland came into Wednesday having already beaten this Thunder team the night before, 123-103, and swept the back-to-back with Deni Avdija leading the way and Cissoko and Jrue Holiday chipping in. Oklahoma City was without Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, and they lost twice to a Portland side that was also shorthanded. They didn't lose because of the screen. The screen is just the thing they picked to be mad about.
SGA can keep hitting the deck. He shouldn't be shocked when the rest of the league, refs included, stops rushing to pick him up.
