NBL grand final: Legendary refs back officials amid game two travel controversy

Melbourne United fans were up in arms over a missed call on Illawarra Hawks’ closer Tyler Harvey’s grand final series-tying three. But were the refs right, wrong or both? WATCH AND HAVE YOUR SAY

Members of the NBL’s referee old guard have backed the controversial officiating “no-call” after Illawarra’s Tyler Harvey suspectedly travelled before his match-winning three-pointer in the grand final series.

United fans were up in arms when replays revealed some loose footwork from the Hawks’ star prior to the remarkable shot which gave Illawarra a 102-100 win and squared up the grand final series at two-apiece.

Some pundits felt Harvey should have been whistled and the points overturned but neither reigning referee of the year Vaughan Mayberry, or past winner Chris Reid – two of the NBL’s best officials who were right on the spot – blew the whistle.

Tyler Harvey hits late winner

Asked about the decision on Thursday, ‘Hollywood’ Mal Cooper – who presided over nearly 500 NBL games in a glittering career – said the referees made the right call.

Cooper believes “technically” it was a travel but neither he, nor other highly-respected referees he consulted, would have blown the whistle in the same circumstances.

“Since you asked me the question, I’ve run it past a number of other referees – all said ‘yes, technically it was a travel and no not in their wildest dreams would they have called it’,” Cooper said.

Tyler Harvey's three has caused a stir, but several of the NBL's greatest refs have backed in the game two officials.

“Harvey pivoted, moved his pivot foot a centimetre and when he came back he put the two feet together. With the changes to the travel rule, players have more leeway. It’s innocuous to anybody who doesn’t barrack for United and hasn’t watched it back 100 times and picked it apart.

“It’s a judgement call and it’s a human call and, even in our heyday in the 1990s, it maybe would have got called one out of 10 times.

“You’re not going to destroy a game when he’s not gained any advantage.”

Cooper said he understood where fan frustration was coming from but said there were only complaints from supporters of teams who were beaten and when the shoe was on the other foot, they were dead quiet.

‘Hollywood’ Mal Cooper presided over nearly 500 NBL games.

“If Chris Goulding’s three at the buzzer goes in, we’re not having this conversation,” he said.

He pointed to a non-travel call on United’s Ian Clark during the fourth quarter of game three of the Perth semi final series as an example of situations where referees have made similar judgement.

“It’s the same thing with Clark the other night when he took off at the start of the dribble and he went all the way and got a layup, you wouldn’t blow that either.

“The fans weren’t complaining when Clark took those steps or when Marcus Lee got away with a goaltend.”

Heartbroken pic.twitter.com/2itSrjdK4s

— Mark Arena (@WildcatsMark) March 4, 2025

He urged the nation’s basketball community to have an understanding that there was a nuance to refereeing that ensured games did not become unwatchable.

“Basketball’s a non-contact sport, so how about we throw the ball up at the start and then every time there’s contact we’ll blow the whistle?

“How do you reckon we’ll go?

“Hand on the dribbler. Foul. Block out. Foul.

“If you want to call every single thing to the letter of the law, we can do that, but games would take five hours and you’d be taking 250 free throws and there’d be no contact and you wouldn’t have a game because no one would ever watch it.

“Referees make mistakes – none of us are perfect – but they also make judgement calls for the sake of the game.”

The NBL did not clarify the Harvey decision but a spokesman said: “Officiating decisions are made in real-time, and we acknowledge there will always be moments of debate. As a general rule, we do not publicly comment on all individual calls.”

Originally published as NBL grand final: Legendary refs back officials amid game two travel controversy