Mike Breen criticizes NBA referee for brutal foul call: ‘You don’t call a technical there’

When the referees lose the always level-headed Mike Breen as an ally, the NBA officially has an officiating problem.

The New York Knicks played an afternoon game against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday as part of the NBA’s efforts in honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on MLK Day. Late in the fourth quarter, the refs missed a foul that should have sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the free throw line and accentuated the blunder by hitting the Knicks All-Star center with a technical. While the officials may have been numb to the mistake, Breen wasn’t.

Even Mike Breen thought this technical foul call was ridiculous pic.twitter.com/gkA5U9Op30

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“Raked across the arm!” Breen said as the replay showed Trae Young hitting Towns as he drove to the basket. “So they missed a foul call. And then Towns got upset, and he was demonstrative, but that’s not the place – unless he said something offensive, and Towns is not that type – you don’t call a technical there. Especially after you missed a call.”

“You don’t call a technical there” meaning late in the fourth quarter of a close game, and especially on a player who had reason to be upset after refs missed that he was raked across the arm.

Everything Breen said there was on point. It was just surprising to hear it from Breen, who usually leaves it to his analysts to call out the officials. But on calls that are this egregious, even Mike Breen is willing to call out the referees.