Suns owner Mat Ishbia demands a fairer whistle in series against Thunder

Now, Suns owner Mat Ishbia has joined in on the gamesmanship. Never afraid to voice his NBA opinions, he backed up Booker on his comments about the controversial technical foul he received in the second half as the Thunder pulled away by as many as 26 points.

"I am 100% behind Devin Booker here. Last night was not a good look for our league. Let me be clear, we didn’t lose because of officiating, but that doesn’t make last night any less important," Ishbia posted on social media. "If the referees are going to demand respect from the players - as they should - then the players should demand respect from the referees."

Not that crazy of a thing to say at the start, but Ishbia kinda jumps the shark in the rest of his essay-length social media post. He called Williams' decision to give Booker a technical foul a sign of disrespect. Well, that's quite the giant leap in logic to make.

"When a referee is missing calls and clearly disrespecting the players, almost mocking them, they must be held accountable. Nobody who loves this game enjoyed watching that last night. They want to see the players compete at the highest level," Ishbia continued. "The league needs be far more aggressive about this kind of thing. All players and all fans deserve it."

This is all part of the NBA playoffs. At this point, the Thunder's reputation is tarnished. No going back. Those who think they're given an officiating advantage are ten toes deep into their beliefs. Alas. Comes with the territory of basketball dominance. Now, let's see if the Suns' pleas for a more favorable whistle materialize as OKC is a couple of wins away from another stress-free Round 1 series win.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Suns owner Mat Ishbia demands a fairer whistle in series against Thunder