Out of Bounds - Tough Call

[wanja]

In the last minute of the LA/Orlando game 2, Kobe drove to the basket and the ball was deflected by an Orlando player. An official (McCutchen I think) indicated that the ball hit Kobe's leg before going out of bounds. The replay showed that it clearly did not.

It seems that the official either guessed or just missed it. In such a situation the ideal would be to indiscretely look for help from a partner or call what was definitely seen -- in this case ball to LA. A last case resort if there was no clue would be to go to the jump ball. Any other ideas on how to better handle a play like this before or after the play.

By the way, out of bounds is my current "this is the most difficult play in officiating". When you get it wrong, it can be very obvious and very ugly.