A day after the NBA said referees missed several late calls during the Warriors-Cavaliers Christmas Day clash, Golden State forward Draymond Green openly critiqued the league's last-two-minute reports, calling them "pointless."
"In the NBA, or basketball in general, people think they got all the answers," Green told reporters Wednesday. "And so with people that think they got all the answers, they don't know how to dissect the game of basketball.
"For instance, there's this thought of like, 'You turn the ball over with 4 seconds to go, you lost y'all the game.' No, you didn't. That game was lost in the third quarter, it was lost in the second quarter. That turnover you had in the third quarter matters just as much as the turnover you had in the fourth quarter. But people don't view it that way because everybody just think it was that play. And it's not; it's a buildup.
"And so I said all of that to say: Why would you just judge the last two minutes of the game? What about the call that was missed in the first quarter? What about the call that was missed in the third quarter? That call could have started a whole run for them and changed the entire game."
The NBA said Tuesday that officials missed three late fouls by Warriors star Kevin Durant and one by LeBron James during Golden State's 99-92 victory over Cleveland.
Durant, according to the league, fouled James twice with less than 30 seconds to go in the fourth quarter and Cleveland down 95-92, first making forearm contact to the Cavs star that affected his "speed, quickness, balance, rhythm" and then making contact to his arm and body that affected a driving shot attempt, which was blocked.
Referee Derrick Stafford initially signaled it as the Cavs' ball, but his call was overturned after the review, and the Warriors were awarded the possession. Neither foul was called, something James questioned after the game.
Green, for his part, questioned why the league would publicize the mistakes.
"I think it's very pointless," he said. "It makes no sense. Like, LeBron can't go back and get the play over and get the two free throws. So who does it help?"
Green was part of Tuesday's last-two-minute report, as well. The league said James should have been whistled for a foul on Green for clamping his arm and jersey with 33 seconds left, which affected Green's ability to retrieve a rebound.
The league's last-two-minute reports have been a hot-button issue in past seasons. The "L2M" provides the officiating crew's fouls and rulings that were accurate or inaccurate in games within five points at the two-minute mark at the end. The outcome of those games, however, does not change.
Commissioner Adam Silver has maintained his support for them in the past, saying "transparency is necessary for any organization. The NBA is no different, and we are committed to protecting the integrity of our game."
Last year, the National Basketball Referees Association has called for the NBA to stop releasing its last-two-minute reports, saying the league's effort to "promote so-called transparency will cause more harm than good for the officials and the game."
Green hopes the league goes away with them as well.
"Sometimes we do stuff in life, we just don't want to say we're going to go away with this because we started it," he said. "Maybe the league don't want to go away with it because they started doing it. But I think they should just go away with it."