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Come Fan with UsTuesday, June 23, 2026

A history of Carmelo Anthony getting mad at referees blowing whistles in his ear

This is an epidemic

Dear NBA referees, this a plea to please stop blowing your whistle so loudly into Carmelo Anthony’s ear. If this was a one-time thing, I’d let it slide, but it’s a common occurrence and someone needs stand up against this behavior.

In February of last year, Anthony’s teammate Derrick Williams voiced his concern over the issue to the Wall Street Journal. “I could just see it by his facial expressions. You never want your star player to be in any type of danger like that,” said Williams.

Arron Afflalo is also on record saying, “He’s always complaining about the whistle being blown in his ear. He may have some sensitive ears.” All the more reason for referees to start being a little more considerate.

The following is chronological evidence of NBA referees being disrespectful to Carmelo Anthony:

Jan. 18, 2017

Melo clearly needed time here to recover from the damage, but was not awarded any.

Aug. 10, 2016

Olympic referees should also be held accountable.

Oct. 29, 2016

Nov. 20, 2015

Nov. 30, 2014

Ken Mauer actually gave Anthony a technical foul after this, which is disrespectful considering the sensitivity of his ears. Okay ... he gave him the tech on the following play, but it was a carryover and not nice.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the whistle in use by most referees is a Fox 40 Classic.

The description says this whistle can be heard up to a mile away. It’s also used by everyone from coaches to safety professionals, so this is obviously the whistle of all whistles. What I noticed, though, is there are two lines that hold the referee accountable for their actions:

A) The harder you blow, the louder the sound.

B) Easy to blow and cannot be overblown.

So referees, please chill with the whistles.

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