As the Golden State Warriors faced off against the Minnesota Timberwolves today, the matchup has been competitive throughout. However, one moment drew the most attention: a controversial call on Warriors superstar Stephen Curry caused outrage across Dub Nation.

The sequence occurred in the third quarter, with 6:40 left on the clock. Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels set a screen, and Curry tried to move through it, causing a small back-and-forth that ended with Curry on the ground after what looked like a push from McDaniels.

However, the referees called Curry for the foul, drawing surprised reactions from the star, his teammates, the crowd, and even the announcers. Steve Kerr, despite objections from the crowd, didn’t challenge the play, which meant the foul stuck.

“Did they call that on Steph Curry?” Timberwolves announcer Michael Grady said on the broadcast. “I thought Jaden yanked Steph Curry to the ground.”

It was clear this wasn’t just fans biased towards the Warriors but an all-around questionable call from the officials, such that even the opposing team’s commentators seemed puzzled at the outcome.

However, Curry still performed well, despite coming off an injury. He scored 39 points on solid efficiency, and added five rebounds and five assists, leading all scorers. McDaniels was also a solid contributor for his team, scoring 17 points with five rebounds, five assists and a steal.

The Timberwolves ended up taking the win after a back-and-forth game and a fourth quarter filled with runs. Minnesota started the fourth with a 17-0 run, with the Warriors firing back with a late rally to go ahead 115-114 on a Curry three. Donte DiVincenzo delivered the dagger to the Warriors late, hitting a three-pointer for a five-point lead with 28 seconds left on the clock.

Golden State tried their best, but despite outscoring the Wolves 45-33 from long range, dropped to 45.8% from the field compared to the Wolves’ 53.9%. Quentin Post and Jimmy Butler were the next highest scoring Warriors, logging 16 and 15 points each.

The Whistle on Stephen Curry Against Timberwolves Has Fans Questioning Everything

Frustration spilled over immediately after the whistle rang out against Stephen Curry tonight. Many fans didn’t see the call as a on-off mistake, but a continued pattern.

“Most disrespected superstar whistle in the league,” one fan wrote.

It’s a familiar complain. Curry, being a jump-shot oriented, perimeter centric player, usually doesn’t draw many fouls because of his propensity to find open shots. This leads many fans to believe that Curry doesn’t get the same benefit of doubt as other elite players, which makes every missed call look even worse.

That anger quickly went beyond the officials. Some fans turned their attention to the Warriors bench, with one fan writing:

“Terrible and the damn coaching staff sucks too for not challenging it.”

The call looked bad enough that both commentating squads called attention to it, yet none of the coaching staff stepped in to call for a challenge, potentially missing the chance to mitigate any damage.

Others framed the moment through a more sarcastic lends, suggesting the exchange had more to do with frustration than the NBA rulebook.

“Curry cooking McDaniels he’s mad af 💀,” one user joked.

It implied that frustration might have played a role in the exchange, especially considering that Curry was on fire the whole night. In the first three quarters, the guard had scored 25, despite having McDaniels draped all over him.

As the replay circulated, the criticism of the officials kept intensifying. Observers openly questioned their competence, with one comment reading:

“Ref at the local rec center coulda made this call 🧐.”

It showed how obvious the mistake looked, and how any sort of replay made it clear that the foul should’ve been on McDaniels.

Finally, the outcry also increased on McDaniels, with fans arguing that the foul was more sever than a common call.

“Flagrant,” one reaction stated.

Most people would agree that this foul would meet the criteria for at least a flagrant 1 foul: excessive contact. Unfortunately, the controversy remains unresolved and adds yet another chapter to the long story of officiating consistency.