In a Bizarre Pfficiating Gaffe During NBA Summer League, Mavericks Scored a Basket that Appeared to be Wrong One
In a Bizarre Pfficiating Gaffe During NBA Summer League, Mavericks Scored a Basket that Appeared to be Wrong One
At first glance, Marcus Bingham Jr. of the Dallas Mavericks appeared to have committed one of the most egregious gaffes of the NBA Summer League.
In the fourth quarter of the game against the Indiana Pacers, Bingham Jr. received a pass from Nike Sibande and raced down the court alone for a slam.
The officials, the commentators, and even some of Bingham Jr.’s teammates all thought he had scored on the wrong basket at that very time. Summer League coach for the Mavs, Jared Dudley, gazed blankly when the play was blown dead.
But hold on! It turned out that Bingham Jr. was making progress in the correct direction. As usual, the officials have arranged the play on the incorrect side of the court. If you look closely enough, you can see the other team’s players (especially the Pacers) wondering why the Mavericks had the ball in their own territory to begin with.
Neither was Dallas meant to be in possession of the ball in this situation. The Pacers called timeout at midcourt after a 3-pointer was made by the Mavericks. However, the referee gave the ball to the Mavericks, setting off the bizarre chain of events.
As would have been expected, the basket didn’t count, the teams were in the right spots, and the ball went back to the Pacers. But Bingham Jr. was adamant that everyone know he made the basket.
During the regular season of the NBA, there haven’t been many cases of players intentionally scoring on the wrong basket.
In a game against the Boston Celtics in 2019, Toronto Raptors forward Oshae Brissett tipped a defensive rebound.
Larry Nance Jr. of the Los Angeles Lakers threw a defensive rebound into his own basket in 2015, and mer AÅŸk, center for the New Orleans Pelicans, tipped in an inbounds pass from the San Antonio Spurs while guarding Tim Duncan, sending the game into overtime in 2014.
The Mavericks were subjected to a similar situation to the one that occurred on Friday during the regular season of the previous year.
On March 22, 2023, with 14 minutes left in regulation, the officials in a game between the Mavericks and the Golden State Warriors handed the Warriors an inbound pass under the Mavericks’ hoop.
The problem was that Dallas believed the officials had signaled that they would be moved to the opposite end of the court. Two points separated the teams until a free throw by Golden State gave them the victory.
The NBA initially refused Mavericks owner Mark Cuban’s complaint of the game over the error.
The mistakes were immediately fixed by the authorities this time. After a 112-91 victory over the Pacers, the Mavericks didn’t need those points either. It’s a shame the game was only Summer League level.
