The Los Angeles Lakers were at the end of a nine-day road trip, tired and undermanned from injuries.
But in a players-only meeting on Monday morning with longtime former referee Monty McCutchen at their team hotel before playing at Detroit, the players were engaged about the topic of improving relations between NBA players and officials.
"I think their view is communication can be better," said McCutchen, the NBA's vice president head of referee development and training. "We are open to that. In the last decade as our social media platforms have overwhelmingly exploded, I think that people [players and coaches] are living under a scrutinized world that has made us all maybe that much more defensive.