Sure, NBA players receive scrutiny, but if you want to know where the real heat is, look down the bench to the coaches tasked with deciding to contest questionable calls. They are the challenge guys—and when the whistle blows, all eyes are on them.
From his seat behind the team bench, Ryan Lumpkin, a 26-year-old player development coach for the Wizards, could feel the eyeballs bearing down on him. It was last October, in the season opener, and Washington star Bradley Beal was whistled for a foul following a collision with Toronto’s OG Anunoby.