Because of Paul Pierce’s Objections, Referee Rethinks Foul Call.

The sequel to Lorenzo's Oil

This April 8th, the Boston Celtics faced off against the ever worsening Philadelphia 76ers in a showdown of moderate proportions. This game was rather unremarkable except for one instance. After Paul Pierce had clearly and flagrantly fouled Evan Turner (who?), he was sent to the line to shoot two free throws. But as many NBA players are known to do, Pierce went up to the referee to plead his case.

Remarkably the referee began to rethink his prior call. He seemed to mull over his thoughts for a moment and for the first time in the history of sports, completely changed his call. “I never change my call. No one ever does,” stated long time referee Kevin Fehr. “In my seventeen years in the league I have never overturned my own call. But what Paul Pierce was saying just really made sense. He was probably right about barely grazing the guy. That’s why I overturned the call.”

For the past couple of seasons, the league has attempted to crack down on these types of situations by calling technical fouls on those who attempt to argue the referee’s calls. There will undoubtedly be many more attempts at overturning calls from players after this precedent. So look forward to that.