A referee went viral after colliding at high speed with a camera operator. NBA referees are often under the spotlight for their decisions, but this time, the cameraman was at fault.
She went down immediately and clutched her head. Players and other officials looked on in concern. Video shows that she was visibly upset with the cameraman, who still appeared unaware of Mitchell’s presence.
The NBA referee needed to sit down for a while but refused to leave the floor. Her toughness drew respect from players and fans alike, even as the incident highlighted the dangers officials face.
Earlier this week, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James didn’t mince words when discussing the inconsistency he witnesses from NBA referees. During Tuesday’s episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash, James shared what frustrates him the most about current refs.
“As a player, it’s so inconsistent the way it’s called. And as players, we just want consistency. On any given night, you can have one official telling you one thing, and then another official telling you another thing.”
“My take is, is this not a world league conversation that you guys are having about like, ‘This is how we’re officiating these plays, this is how we’re officiating these moves, this is how we’re this,’ or is it just depending on the refs?”
NBA officials have made headlines for many years now sometimes for their calls, sometimes for their consistency, and sometimes for simply getting run over by camera operators.
