The NBA is one of the most progressive leagues in the United States. Politics aside, they’re willing to try new things and make changes when something isn't working. Outside of NBA refereeing.

In 1979, they added the three-point line, changing the game forever. In 2004, they removed the hand checking rule to allow more flow for offenses. In 2014, the league created a replay Center that monitored and checked close, big calls in real time. In 2018, they limited the shot clock to 14 seconds after an offensive rebound to speed up the pace of the game.

But some changes have backfired, which culminated in this sequence at the end of Game 7 between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder.

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Every great player in the NBA tries to hunt fouls; it takes real skill to pull off a complex basketball move while attempting to draw a foul. But it’s a real problem that makes the game less watchable.

On the Locked On Lakers Podcast, hosts Anthony Irwin and Pete Zayas (LakerFilmRoom) discussed the big NBA refereeing problem that has yet to be addressed by the league.

Anthony Irwin: Everything is so litigious… you know? In the NFL, it’s ‘what the hell is a catch?’ Was he taking his second or third step up the field, and if he was taking his second or third steps, were his shoulders square to the touchdown line? And in basketball, it's like alright, so was his second hand on the ball, and then, when a second hand was on the ball, does that count, does that start to count for the 1-2-3 or the 1-2 and a half to take a shot? And it's just like, was somebody straight up, was this guy off the ground, was this guy doing this, was this guy doing it…

I just I find myself pulling my hair out of my head. In an age where it's just not very smart for us to pull hair out of our head…

This is the most talented the NBA has ever been. Ever, ever… we can look back to the golden age of the 80s. We can look back to Michael Jordan's era, we could look back even to the basketball that you and I grew up with.

This is the most talented the league has ever been. And it’s also arguably some of the least watchable stuff because of bullcrap, like we saw at the end of that game. I find myself just saying, guys, you wouldn't do this if you were playing at The Rucker, you wouldn't do this if you're playing at your local YMCA, you wouldn't do this at your local 24 Hour.

Why the hell is such a big part of the NBA basketball, the absolute highest level of basketball that exists in the world? Why is this such a big part of it? And it's because the NBA knows that it has a problem, but refuses to actually do anything to fix it.