Paul Reed Requests Explanation From Referees on Twitter
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Third-year veteran Paul Reed took to Twitter on Friday to ask the NBA referees' account for an explanation on a foul call from Thursday night’s matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Dallas Mavericks.
In his first tweet, Reed shared a video from a play in the second quarter with a little over ten minutes left to go in the first half. After getting whistled for a foul after a Dallas three-point attempt, Reed looked puzzled as he didn’t make contact with the shooter.
“How is this a foul?” Reed asked. “Can you please explain! I clearly gave him more than enough space to land, so no need to fall.”
The Sixers veteran then followed up with another tweet to explain why he was so frustrated the following afternoon after the matchup.
“I understand referees are human and make mistakes,” he continued. “Ain’t nobody perfect. Im just asking so I can know what I need to do differently so [I don’t] lose my minutes.”
Fouling has been one of Reed’s most notable struggles since he entered the NBA. And when Reed typically gets whistled for a foul, he tends to question the calls on the court more often than not.
At a point earlier this season, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers mentioned that he wanted the young veteran to stop worrying about it so much.
“I just think it is what it is,” said Rivers back in November. “It’s always been that way. It’s not going to change, and I tell him that every day. Just keep playing. Keep playing hard. One thing I tell him and all the young guys that don’t play a lot of minutes, why are you worried about fouls?”
This season, Reed averages just ten minutes on the floor. Since the Sixers returned from the All-Star break, that number has increased to 12.5 minutes per game over the last five matchups.
Reed has seen his fair share of struggles this season, which caused him to lose his spot in the rotation on a couple of occasions. While Reed is currently the daily backup for Joel Embiid, he wants to make sure he keeps it that way long-term and doesn’t want questionable calls to affect that.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
