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Caron Butler Blocked A Shot Directly Into A Poor Unsuspecting Ref’s Face

Thought a little about some cutesy intro I could do for this, but there’s really no point. During his team’s 109-97 loss to the Thunder last night, Caron Butler, innocently trying to give his all on defense, blocked a shot from behind. It was a very good play, but there was some collateral damage. Collateral damage like a ref’s noggin:

You might wonder, looking at the play from the original camera angle, if we don’t have a bit of ref flopping on our hands. After all, he got hit hard, but it was only a basketball. A more closeup view, on the other hand, reveals just how little he could react. He didn’t even have time to flinch before the ball hit him; it was just there. You’d have fallen on your ass, too, is the point here. And though he immediately signaled he was fine, good on Blake Griffin for checking in with him. See, refs: if you want people to be nice to you, just get hit in the face with a flying projectile at close range. (I would not want to be a ref.)

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