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I was at a game recently where an offensive player had good block-out position near the basket and end line on his defensive player who is "leaning" on him (in the key). A shot was in the air near the basket. End line official is within 10 feet of both players and appears to be looking toward this area. Outside official is also looking toward this same area from the other side of the court at approx mid court area. (I have several photos showing a sequence of this situation.)
After the shot hits the rim, the defensive player described above shoves the offensive player such that the offensive player is almost pushed out of bounds (photo shows him falling toward out of bounds line with defensive player's arm on his lower back). The ball is in the air approx above the rim at this point.
The ball continues its rebound off the rim to approx. 5-6 feet into the key where it is rebounded by a different offensive player. Even if the first offensive player was not shoved from his position, he probably could not have got that rebound since it came off the rim so far. The first offensive player mentioned above is visibly standing out of bounds in front of the endline official, after regaining his momentum from an obvious push by the defensive player. Neither official called a foul on this situation.
Was this no call because there was no apparent advantage gained by the defensive player making the shove? Or would it be more likely because neither official saw the actual push (even though they could not miss the after effect of the offensive player falling out of bounds)?
What if the offensive player was hurt in this situation due to the shove by the defensive player? Would that have made any difference in the call/no call decision?
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