The NBA has reached a new level of petty - New York Post

Russell Westbrook was fuming on Thursday.

The reigning MVP had seen the release of the All-Star Draft teams and assumed he was picked last by LeBron James.

"But I see I was the last pick on the list — I was just trying to figure out how …" Westbrook told reporters after the Thunder's win over the Wizards.

It turned out James had tweeted out the list alphabetically and that's why Westbrook was last on the list, one spot below John Wall. That misunderstanding perfectly sums up a first half that has been fairly predictable on the court, and filled with bizarre headlines off of it.

Especially in recent weeks, the league has had a barrage of interpersonal conflicts and petty grievances. The NBA has never been a stranger to controversy, but this year, seemingly everyone is upset about something.

After Wall called J.J. Barea a "midget," Barea responded by referencing a report that the rest of Wall's teammates may or may not hate him. Reports surfaced that the free-falling Cleveland Cavaliers are pointing fingers at Kevin Love, while LeBron James was congratulating himself on Instagram for scoring 30,000 career points – a feat he hadn't accomplished to that point. Jason Kidd got fired as head coach for the second time, and his superstar player offered to intervene to prevent it from happening. Reports came out this week that the Spurs, a team seemingly immune to dysfunction for the past two decades, have a "strained" relationship with their best player, Kawhi Leonard.

And before the All-Star Draft, there was the announcing of the players on the teams. Some players that didn't make it felt snubbed, and they vented their frustration in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Lou Williams tweeted a simple "Smh" in response to his snub, while Andre Drummond straight up wrote "Gotta be f—in kidding me lol." Westbrook took shots at the league for failing to include his Oklahoma City teammate Paul George, and Damian Lillard fired back. (Lillard is also reportedly frustrated with the direction of the Trail Blazers, and met with team owner Paul Allen about it on Tuesday.)

All of that happened in the same week.

And while the past several days may have been the zenith of NBA conflict, it only scratches the surface on this absurd season. Last week, several Rockets players tried to sneak through a back entrance into the Clippers locker room, reportedly for some postgame fisticuffs. Security was able to break it up before it got physical.

In November, James publicly chided the Knicks for drafting Frank Ntilikina instead of Dennis Smith Jr. Soon after, he followed it up with another Instagram post, this time claiming to be the "King of New York." A public feud with Enes Kanter ensued.

In October, Bulls forward Bobby Portis punched teammate Nikola Mirotic in the face, shattering his jaw and earning a lengthy suspension from the league office. Bizarrely, since the punch Mirotic has turned into one of the team's best players.

And this is all without mentioning that Lavar Ball has a son in the NBA.

If player-on-player drama isn't enough, another huge storyline has been the deteriorating relationship between players and referees. In a season seemingly filled with technical foul calls, ejections and mistakes from officials, players haven't been shy about voicing their rabid discontent with the media.

"I'm done with the refs," Carmelo Anthony said after teammate Westbrook was ejected in a victory over the Kings. "No disrespect, but I'm done with those guys."

Later, in a meme-worthy moment, Chris Paul was caught on camera saying "Scott, you the man. That's who they pay to see," to official Scott Foster.

But while refs have missed some calls, the issue might be more of a two-way street. In a nationally-televised Warriors-Rockets game last weekend, Kevin Durant committed what was clearly a foul, then argued theatrically with the referee when the foul was called. TNT announcers Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson were quick to tie the situation to what they thought was a rising level of player arrogance toward league officials. Steve Javie, longtime referee and current ESPN analyst, agreed.

"If [the referees] are treated with respect on the floor, respect will be given," Javie said. "Unfortunately, what we're seeing, I think, is a high level of disrespect and, really, unprofessionalism."

Translation: if the players weren't such divas to begin with, they might not be getting technical fouls all the time.

Javie insinuated that the ref issue might run deeper than player-versus-official, and instead might be a manifestation of several player-on-player or player-on-coach conflicts.

What's causing it? Maybe the fact that there are (at best) three or four true contenders in the league, and everyone else is languishing in mediocrity. Maybe the players just need the All-Star break to come.

But this year more than others, the NBA's off-court shenanigans and league-wide frustration have overshadowed the actual games. You might not even know that the Timberwolves are a near-lock to break the league's longest playoff drought, or that rookie Donovan Mitchell is tearing up the league in Utah.

Things should cool down once the playoff races get interesting and teams start playing meaningful games. But for now, the NBA is America's best soap opera — and if you tune out for a second, you'll miss something good.

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