2012-13 TFFL: Days 82 & 83, Flop 16 & Ref as Part of Court

During Tuesday night's Thunder-Clippers game, Los Angeles' Caron Butler blocked a shot attempt from Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka, the ball caroming into lead official Derek Richardson and prompting Clippers broadcaster Michael Smith to declare:

That ball hit the ref and bounced back into the court... shouldn't they have played on?

In a word, no. NBA Rule 8-II-a specifies, "the ball is out-of-bounds when it touches a player who is out-of-bounds or any other person, the floor, or any object on, above or outside of a boundary of the supports or back of the backboard." A referee qualifies as "any other person."

Similar language appears in the college (NCAA 7-1-2) and high school (NFHS 7-2-a-2) rules books.

Video: Butler's block careens into Richardson's head; OOB correctly called (LAC/NBA TV)

2012-13 TFFL: Day 83 (11 Games, 4 Technicals, 1 Flop Discipline).
542: 15 Bennett Salvatore, 42 Eric Lewis, 76 Steven Anderson. Heat's Cole; 2nd, 9:09.
The Miami Heat ultimately won the contest, defeating the Toronto Raptors in 1OT, 123-116.

543: 7 Kevin Fehr, 30 John Goble, 55 Bill Kennedy. Lakers' Bryant; 4th, 8:04.
The Memphis Grizzlies ultimately won the contest, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers, 106-93.

544: 14 Ed Malloy, 65 Sean Wright, 31 Scott Wall. Timberwolves' Porter; 3rd, 8:40.
The Brooklyn Nets ultimately won the contest, defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves, 91-83.

545: 19 James Capers, 66 Haywoode Workman, 59 Gary Zielinski. Thunder's Sefolosha; 2nd, 0:00.0.
The Golden State Warriors ultimately won the contest, defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder, 104-99.

Flopping 16: OKC Kevin Martin (2nd, $5,000 fine), Thunder vs. Nuggets (1/20/13, Video [Foul Called = No]).

2012-13 TFFL: Day 82 (4 Games, 1 Technical).

540: 43 Dan Crawford, 27 Dick Bavetta, 75 Eric Dalen. Magic's Davis; 3rd, 7:23.
The Detroit Pistons ultimately won the contest, defeating the Orlando Magic, 105-90.

541: 9 Derrick Stafford, 63 Derek Richardson, 40 Leon Wood. Clippers' Odom; 4th, 0:32.6.
The Oklahoma City Thunder ultimately won the contest, defeating the Los Angeles Clippers, 109-97.

2012-13 TFFL Standings Update

1. (126 pts) Boredcravens.

2. (120 pts) Bino.

3. (108 pts) Drjjulius.

4. (105 pts) flap0703.

5. (97 pts) JeremyJ.