Have you ever sat down and watched a basketball game with a fan of the opposing team?

Every time there is a possible charge/block situation, both you and the opposing fan have conflicting reactions. Both are absolutely positive that it is a charge or a block (depending on which benefits their team).

Are they being complete homers and thinking "Well, it's a charge, but I'm going to pretend it wasn't and complain that it should have been a block"? NO. They legitimately believe that the call should have gone their, as do you.

This is where refs come into the picture.

Referees do not exist in a no-human-contact bubble. They interact with players regularly. Naturally they tend to like some players, and dislike others.

And then when the charge/block situation occurs, THEY BELIEVE 100% THAT THEY ARE MAKING THE CORRECT CALL, even if the call is incorrect. They will swear to you that it has nothing to do with their liking/disliking of the player involved, but it does on a subconscious level.

No referee is crazy enough (except Donaghy) to get involved with the mob and make bad calls on purpose. They might make ONE bad call just to really f*** with one guy who they absolutely hate, but most calls are just pure human (mis)judgement.

Carmelo always yells and bitches to the refs. Notice how he never got to the line after the halfway point of the season? Refs SUBCONSCIOUSLY began to dislike Melo.

Conversely, look at Wade. He's always buddying up to the refs, chatting it up during free throws. And I'm sure you all saw the '06 finals. Those refs weren't thinking "Hey let's go win this one for Dwayne" They were just calling it as they THOUGHT they were seeing it.