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Celtics F Josh Minott calls out NBA refereeing this season
"Y’all really got to understand the stuff I’ve got to fight through being not a brand name player in this league."
NBA players and fans have spoken for years about their belief that star players get a better whistle from refs than role players. Celtics reserve wing Josh Minott is the latest to join that chorus.
While the Celtics continue to improve as the season goes on, Minott believes there’s one area in the NBA that hasn’t been improving: officiating.
“I could list them off, there’s a lot,” Minott told reporters before Thursday’s game, referring to missed calls by referees on him this season. “I could make you a mixtape of all the times.”
The most recent foul that Minott believes was wrongfully called on him was in Tuesday’s game against the Knicks, where he got called for a reach-in on New York’s Josh Hart.
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While the Celtics didn’t have a challenge at the time to try and reverse the call, Minott says that even Hart agreed with him.
“I didn’t foul Hart there, you can look at the film,” Minott said. “He even said it. I’m like, ‘You know damn well I didn’t touch you.’ And I’ll tell you the exact quote he said, ‘That’s a horrible call.’ Word for word.”
Even if they did have a challenge, Minott knows that he needs to be careful with his advice to coach Joe Mazzulla, who can’t risk being wrong.
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“I would never even bring it up if I knew it wasn’t 100 percent,” Minott said. “Because [Mazzulla] understands as soon as I miss one, I’m done. If it’s up in the air, I wouldn’t even try it.”
Minott would go on to pull up film from a game against the 76ers, where he felt he got fouled by Kelly Oubre. While refs are always going to make mistakes, Minott feels like he gets unfairly judged because he’s not as big a star as others.
“Y’all got to see this [Oubre foul], this is the [expletive] I’ve been fighting through,” Minott continued. “Y’all really got to understand the stuff I’ve got to fight through being not a brand name player in this league.”
Even with his disagreements this year, Minott seems to know that staying on refs’ good side can be significant, as he tried to soften the blow.
“We’re all human,” Minott concluded the clip with. “I understand refs are going to miss things, it happens. I got no animosity. Just like me, I’m going to make mistakes. They’re all doing their best, so, I got no bad blood.”
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