In recent events, the NBA has seen multiple stars such as LeBron James and Anthony Davis walk away from the podium while being interviewed after devastating losses in the playoffs. Is it a result of pure frustration and nothing more, or does it go much deeper?
Media availability is required for every player after every game, and if players do not comply with this rule, they are given a fine from the commissioner. So it isn’t like if a player is upset with the outcome of a game, they can skip out on an interview without consequences; it comes with a hefty fine.
Players getting mad during interviews isn’t a very uncommon thing in the NBA; there are a multitude of clips all over the internet of players getting mad during an interview, and instead of leaving like these players, they would take their frustrations out on the interviews by smart remarks and other antics.
This raises the question, why are players getting mad during interviews? It’s a mixture of everything: losing the game, dumb questions from the people interviewing, and hating the media.
When Anthony Davis left his interview, it was mostly because the interviewer asked him to debrief what had happened towards the end of the game as Jamal Murray hit a tough shot over him to win the Nuggets the game 101-99.
In response to the question, he gave a very bland answer, saying “He made a shot,” putting down the mic and leaving the interview. Now there’s no definite answer that could be found if the NBA fines players for leaving the interview early or not, but one could assume the commissioner does not appreciate it.
Anthony Davis was not the only one on the Lakers team who left during an interview; his teammate LeBron James also left an interview early after the loss against the Nuggets. In response to a second-half foul on MPJ that was overturned after being challenged by the Nuggets.
In the replay, you could see that Russell was hit in the face by MPJ, although after review, the officials overturned the call on the floor, saying it did not affect the shot as the ball had left the offensive player’s hand, way before the contact.
LeBron brought this up in the post-game interview, saying that he does not understand what is going on in the replay center, continuing by saying that Russell was hit in the face, it doesn’t make sense, it bothers me.
LeBron then goes on to bring up what had happened in the game between the Knicks and Sixers, exclaiming what the officials were doing, and then taking his leave from the interview.
He was referring to when the Knicks’ Donte DiVincenzo hit a go-ahead 3-point shot to put the Knicks over the Sixers with 13 seconds remaining, a possession that started with Sixers star Tyreese Maxey being ripped off the ball.
Joel Embiid stated in his interview that Maxey was fouled and the Sixers coach Nick Nurse was trying to call a timeout.
Unlike fellow superstar teammate Anthony Davis, who was just frustrated from the loss in his post-game interview, LeBron took his frustration out on the apparent fault of the referees after the game 2 loss.
LeBron is not the only superstar who has pointed out the faulty refs this season. Many other stars, such as Anthony Edwards, called the refs terrible after a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the regular season.
The NBA players are not the only people calling out the refs on their poor officiating in the NBA. Clippers coach Tyrone Lue and Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic both let their frustrations be known after regular-season losses.
The NBA seems to need to work on keeping its players and coaches happier, although in their defense when it comes to officiating someone is gonna be unhappy with the outcome, there’s not much that can be done.
