John Goble, the referee involved in a confrontation with Austin Reaves and the Los Angeles Lakers after their Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, was rated among the lowest by players in a recent survey from the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), according to a May 14 statement.
The findings come from the annual Referee Player Survey, which collected feedback from 411 players across all NBA teams. The survey’s results were delivered to league officials about a month before being made public and are intended as guidance for referee assignments during playoff games and potentially for selections for the NBA Finals.
Players evaluated referees on a scale of one to five, placing them into three categories: Tier 1 (Elite and Top Performers), Tier 2 (Solid Performers), and Tier 3 (Needs Improvement). Goble was listed among twenty referees in the “Needs Improvement” category. The NBPA recommended that only referees graded as Tier 1 or Tier 2 should officiate playoff games, with only Tier 1 referees assigned to NBA Finals games. According to these recommendations, Goble would not have been assigned to officiate Western Conference Semifinals matches.
Expectations around officiating were discussed before the Lakers-Thunder series began. JJ Redick said before Game 1, “They don’t foul, so the whistles aren’t gonna be there. You accept that going in. They don’t foul,” adding humorously about Oklahoma City’s defense: “You’re talking about a team that is top five in every category that’s disruptive based; steals, blocks, turnovers forced, all that stuff. And they don’t foul. They somehow do all of that without fouling, which is one of the most remarkable things, I think, in NBA history.”
After Game 2’s loss and amid concerns over missed calls during key moments late in regulation play, Reaves described his frustration with how he felt he was treated by Goble during an exchange near tip-off: “I felt like I was respectful to all of them all night,” Reaves said after the game. “A million times in the past, I’ve said way worse stuff… And he turned around and yelled in my face. I just thought it was disrespectful… At the end of the day we’re grown men and I just didn’t feel like he needed to yell in my face like that… I told him if I did that to him first I would’ve gotten a tech… I feel like only reason I didn’t get a tech was because he knew he was in wrong. I just felt disrespected.”
The NBPA’s full survey also identified several officials considered elite performers—such as Ray Acosta and Tony Brothers—and outlined those who need improvement alongside Goble.
