The Olympic finale was one of the greatest matchups in international basketball history. Although there were many stars on the US roster, it was mainly because of LeBron James and Stephen Curry‘s magic that Team USA clinched its fifth consecutive gold. Now, as entertaining and as memorable it was for the fans in the arena to witness greatness, so it was for the referees. Of course, the officials are neutral throughout the game. We’ve seen it in the NBA as well as in international leagues. The officials are mostly neutral, not revealing any of their emotions when making calls. But watching some of the greatest players in action, even the referees enjoy their greatness.

Yes, there definitely is some level of excitement, but for the sake of the game, the officials cannot show it openly. Nevertheless, Antonio Conde, one of the referees who officiated the final game between the US and France, recently talked about the finale and how it felt calling the game with LeBron on the floor.

“The truth is that seeing LeBron at 40 years old with an impressive physique is a bit shocking. Curry has something special…it was beautiful and that’s what I took with me. When the time comes, the first thought is to work as though it was just another match and without focusing on it being a final because sometimes the mind can cause some misunderstanding. It’s now when a few days pass and when you remember it that you get goosebumps,” said Conde.

While Conde made it clear that he took the Olympic final as just another game, the officiating in the Semi-Final game between USA and Serbia left the Serbian head coach unhappy. Apart from the coach, Bogdan Bogdanovic was also gutted, as he blamed the referees for not responding to certain obvious calls. “We tried to talk to them. They just walked away. The USA doesn’t need that type of help against us. You know, we didn’t have that type of help when they were grabbing us with two hands and all that,” said Bogdanovic.

Not only that, but during the preliminary round, fans weren’t happy with the officials after the France vs Japan game. The Japanese were quite literally leveling with the French. But following the narrow escape, many believed the French were lucky. That being said, is the officiating poor in international basketball? Well, even LeBron James and Team USA had issues with the officials during the exhibition games, but that was because they were struggling to come to terms with the FIBA rules.

LeBron James and co. accepted the hard truth
For the NBA players, the officiating in international basketball is quite different. One of the best examples was Joel Embiid‘s struggles in the exhibition games. Embiid wasn’t coping with the FIBA rules, desperately trying to draw fouls. Watching him falling behind after appealing for a foul, the rest of the players did seem to realize that drawing fouls is not that easy in international basketball. It is tough to get foul calls in the paint in the FIBA games, something the American forwards weren’t used to. Nevertheless, the squad didn’t argue much and rather tried to adapt.

Eventually, Team USA seemed to have managed the FIBA style of play quite well and ended up beating highly tactical teams like Serbia and France. It is only to wonder how entertaining the game would be if the Association followed FIBA rules. Nevertheless, what are your thoughts on the officials in the Olympics? Let us know in the comments.