NBA Games That Were Protested and Replayed

NBA teams have been allowed to formally protest the result of games for most of the league's history, but successful protests are extremely rare. A team generally must show that the rules of the game were incorrectly applied, rather than simply argue that an official made a bad judgment call.

The first known NBA protest was filed by the Indianapolis Olympians in February 1952. Indianapolis complained about the officiating in an 88-86 loss to the Philadelphia Warriors, but the league denied the protest.

Later that same year, the Philadelphia Warriors became the first NBA team to successfully protest a game.

Every NBA Protest That Resulted in a Replay

1952: Philadelphia Warriors vs. Milwaukee Hawks

1969: The Phantom Buzzer Game

1971: Buffalo Braves vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

1978: 76ers vs. Nets and the Strangest Replay in NBA History

1982: Lakers vs. Spurs

2007: Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks

ABA Games That Were Replayed After Protests

Two additional games often appear on lists of protested professional basketball games, but they occurred in the American Basketball Association, not the NBA.

1973 Pacers-Spurs Replay

San Antonio successfully protested a November 14, 1973 loss to the Indiana Pacers. The ABA ordered the disputed ending replayed before the teams met again.

The case became particularly unusual because Bob Netolicky had changed teams between the original game and the replay, creating another instance in which a player participated in different portions of the same official game for opposing teams.

1976 Nets-Squires Replay

The January 7, 1976 game between the New York Nets and Virginia Squires was another bizarre chapter in ABA history.

New York coach Kevin Loughery accumulated numerous technical fouls during the game, but his successful protest centered on a rules violation involving Virginia's Willie Wise.

Wise left the game because he was unable to participate in a jump ball after an injury. Under the applicable ABA rule, once a substitute replaced him in that situation he was not supposed to return. Wise was later allowed back into the game.

ABA Commissioner Dave DeBusschere upheld the Nets' protest, and the disputed portion of the game was later replayed. Virginia ultimately won the official game 107-100.

Notable NBA Protests That Were Denied

Most NBA protests fail. An incorrect officiating decision by itself generally is not enough to have a game replayed. The protesting team must usually establish that the playing rules were improperly applied and that the error had a significant effect on its opportunity to win.

Why the 2024 Knicks Protest Was Denied

The New York Knicks' 2024 protest provides a useful example of the difference between an incorrect call and a successful game protest.

Houston defeated New York 105-103 on February 12, 2024, after Jalen Brunson was called for a shooting foul on Aaron Holiday's final shot attempt.

After reviewing the play, the officiating crew acknowledged that the contact should not have been called a foul.

The Knicks formally protested the result, but the NBA denied the protest. The league ruled that the foul represented an error in judgment rather than a misapplication of the playing rules.

That distinction is one of the primary reasons successful NBA protests remain so rare.

How an NBA Game Protest Works

An NBA protest is different from an instant-replay challenge during a game.

Under current NBA procedures, an authorized team representative must submit written notice of a protest to the Commissioner following the game. For most regular-season games, notice must be submitted within 48 hours.

The protest must explain the grounds for challenging the result. A protest fee is also required and is returned if the protesting team prevails.

The standard is intentionally difficult to meet. A team generally cannot win a protest merely by proving that an official made the wrong judgment call. The team must demonstrate a significant error in the application or administration of the playing rules.

Why Replaying an NBA Game Is So Rare

Basketball games contain hundreds of officiating judgments. If every incorrect foul, out-of-bounds decision or missed violation allowed a team to protest successfully, final results could constantly be challenged after the fact.

For that reason, the NBA distinguishes between an official making an incorrect judgment and the officials or game staff incorrectly applying the rules themselves.

Most successful protests have involved unusual administrative or rules errors: allowing an ineligible fifth player, mishandling the game clock, administering an inbound from the wrong location, applying technical-foul rules incorrectly, mishandling a free throw or incorrectly recording a player's foul total.

The extraordinary nature of those mistakes explains why only a handful of games throughout NBA history have ever required portions of the contest to be replayed.

The Strangest Facts About Replayed NBA Games

• The Philadelphia Warriors' successful 1952 protest produced the first replayed game in NBA history.
• The 1969 Bulls-Hawks controversy became known as the "Phantom Buzzer Game."
• Only four seconds had to be replayed in the 1971 Buffalo-Cleveland game.
• The 1978 Nets-76ers protest required 17 minutes and 50 seconds to be replayed.
• Players involved in a trade between Philadelphia and New Jersey appeared for both teams in different portions of the same official 1978 game.
• Only three seconds were restored in the Lakers-Spurs replay from the 1982 game.
• Shaquille O'Neal had already been traded by the time Miami and Atlanta replayed the final 51.9 seconds of their 2007 game.
• The 2008 Hawks-Heat continuation remains the most recent NBA game to be replayed because of an upheld protest.

NBA Protest Timeline

More NBA History

Explore More NBA History

NBA Records

American Basketball Association History