LOOK: NBA referees clap back at Paul Pierce over comments on facilities
The NBA referees' official Twitter account took offense to some comments made by Paul Pierce about their television setup and where the spend halftime, and they let him know. The account aired Pierce's comments on "NBA Countdown" with intermittent cuts contradicting Pierce and mocking him. The video then ended with them inviting Pierce for a "tour" of their facilities.
One thing is for sure, the officials really aren't investing in their A/V department based on this video (anxiously awaits angry response). However, the point is clear. After Tracy McGrady said that referees would review a call at halftime, Pierce started in.
"A lot of them say they'll look at it but how many referees are, at halftime, looking at the call. They go back there saying '[Can you] believe T-Mac said something to me?' You know what? He say one more thing I'm gonna throw him out [of] this game.
"They're not looking at the plays," Pierce continued. "Is there a monitor in their room?" The clip then looped Pierce saying that several times while showing monitor setups that the officials have... in their room.
"I've been to the referee's locker room," Pierce said. "...The referees' locker room is usually going to be a spare room -- in the arena -- that no one else is using. So they're telling me they have a TV, and a DVR in there they can go back to look at the play I don't -- I don't think so." All of this was cut with photos of referee locker rooms with TVs and, eventually, a referee looking at the monitor.
After all of this, the referees invited "The Truth" to meet "Zach Zarba." Zarba gave Pierce a first-hand look and invited Pierce to come to the locker room.
Why did the referees felt the need to fire back like this? The world may never know. But the NBA world should be thrilled that they did, because the pettiness is genuinely impressive.