Foul after ball released not a foul.
 

I've been seeing this a lot lately in the NBA when there's a challenge. Happened last night in the Lakers / Nuggets game. Russell went in for a close shot and got hit in the face after the ball was released. Since the contact was after the release they said it wasn't a foul despite the fact he clearly got hit. To me a foul is a foul. If there's illegal contact at any point a foul should be called. If a player shoots from any sort of distance they're landing is protected all the way through so why is this different? I've seen in so many times whenever there's a challenge and it just doesn't make sense to me.

It’s the NBA. It’s all entertainment and they only care about $.

What's that have to do with the decision making process on this particular play? They took away a chance to score points.

All over officiating social media circles, the response "it's only entertainment" is the most useless officiating answer.

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Clearly, the officials deemed the contact "incidental" and not "illegal".

Exactly how hard was the hit to the face? Contact is illegal if it's not incidental -- so there's judgment that is required there regardless.

My comments are strictly per NFHS, NCAA Men's/Women's, and FIBA Rules.

It is a PF against an Airborne Shooter, and depending upon the severity of the contact could be an IPF or a FPF per NFHS or their NCAA Men's/Women's or FIBA equivalents.

MTD, Sr.