SI

NBA Ref Got Stuck Right in the Middle of Action During Heat-Timberwolves

That's not supposed to happen.

Kyle Koster

Kevin Cutler got more than an official bargains for during Miami-Minnesota.
Kevin Cutler got more than an official bargains for during Miami-Minnesota. / Fox Sports Midwest
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NBA officials—heck, all officials—take a good amount of heat for their decision-making. All while trying to adjudicate fast-paced action between some of the greatest athletes in the world and knowing that their work is being fact-checked by replay or outsourced to robots.

In short, it's a tough gig where the goal is to be part of the scenery, not the main character. Kevin Cutler did his very best to stay out of the action during Friday night's Minnesota Timberwolves-Miami Heat game, but could not prevent himself from being sucked into the competitive vortex.

Still, despite ending up as an equal-opportunity screener, he displayed some nice footwork and floor presence to eventually get himself out of harm's way.

For a split second there it looked we might have a Charlie Kelly reffing situation on our hands.

The Timberwolves would go on to beat the Heat, 106-104, to keep up with the rest of the Western Conference as the playoffs creep closer.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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