Super League Basketball (SLB) is facing an escalating crisis as referees prepare to withhold their labour this week in protest against comments made on X by SLB Chair and Sheffield Sharks owner Vaughn Millette at the weekend.

The controversy has already resulted in the resignation of Richard Stokes, the league’s Head of Officiating, as first reported by Mark Woods.

Millette, following a loss to Surrey on Saturday, ignited the dispute with a series of social media posts on X calling into question the integrity of referee Ed Udyanskyy – the only Euroleague referee in the UK, sharing team winning percentages with and without the official. Hoopsfix has been unable to confirm these records.

In a subsequent string of tweets, all of which were deleted on Monday, Millette alleged racism against Sharks’ head coach Atiba Lyons, suggesting that Udyanskyy has unfairly targeted Lyons while allowing white coaches greater leeway.

While Millette framed his comments as a broader fight against discrimination, they have been met with backlash from officials and a number of fans.

One source has told Hoopsfix that many officials are outraged and unwilling to officiate games this week in protest, corroborating what Mark Woods has reported, at what they see as an unfair public attack on a colleague.

“The silence is deafening,” the source said regarding the lack of a response from the SLB or its clubs.

Since that conversation, Sheffield Sharks have put out a statement from Atiba Lyons saying the following:

First and foremost, I want to thank Vaughn Millette for taking a very bold stance on my behalf and on behalf of anyone in our sport that looks like me. It is not an attack on one person but on a system of choosing to ignore valid complaints.

I have been in this league since 2008 and it has given me so much and I will always be grateful for the fans and the years of fierce healthy competition.

I have been a player and now I am a coach and a proud owner in SLB.

I have however since 2018 had some very unfortunate instances as a coach that has made my job at times challenging.

In recent years i have expressed my concerns to all the proper channels to address the differences in the way I am treated and managed to my coaching counterparts throughout the league. I have made representations with officials and league officials with genuine pain, sadness and frustration and asked why am I being treated differently.

The answer has been ‘well Atiba you know the other coaches are harmless and you are more frightening’. As if that is totally reasonable and I should accept that and move on.

I am a competitor and have emotions, but I am in no way violent.

I look like and I am the same size as the very athletes your kids support and look up to. I look like the youth coaches that are helping develop our youngsters and instilling self-belief and confidence in your sons, daughters, grandchildren etc.

In certain circumstances my harsh treatment has led to me becoming as sedate as possible on the sideline to avoid punishment so I don’t detract from my players hard work and the fans can cheer the team on without leaving with a feeling of ‘something isn’t fair’.

More importantly I do it to avoid the mental anguish and avoid being triggered.

I grew up in a place where, as a child, my windows were shot out of our family home for moving into an all-white neighbourhood. I have been stopped and frisked in front of my home in Brooklyn by police. I don’t talk about racism or unconscious bias lightly and I don’t need it to make excuses. Frankly, I have survived much more than being ejected from a basketball game or losing a game.

However, this is the UK! I was made to believe it was progressive. I was led to believe you cared about minorities and the BAME community. I was led to believe that basketball is a vehicle in this country to make a change and impact. So why wouldn’t anyone listen when I went through all the proper channels?

Vaughn on his own merit has decided it is not right to have a black man made to feel unheard by a sport that says they champion black people. He wasn’t asked by me, and this isn’t a plan. He spoke from a genuine place because he saw what it was doing to me mentally and emotionally.

That speaks for his character and his commitment to have the difficult conversations in a world where something like this is easily ignored.

I promise you my frustrations aren’t unique.

In closing, this is not an ‘all’ or ‘everyone’ problem. I hope this is taken in the manner it is intended. It is not to cause harm or cast a shadow over the referees, table officials and administrators who have grown this sport and are good decent people.

That said, you can’t separate the principle of Vaughn’s comments from the fact that we have raised the issue on numerous occasions, and it has not been dealt with, that in itself is a bias. So, in consideration of moving forward remember that is it is not ok to accept any racial bias as a priority and it is more important than any other point.

An injustice to one is an injustice to all.

The timing could not be worse for SLB, which is already entangled in a dispute with the British Basketball Federation (BBF) over the professional league operating license.

The BBF recently entered an exclusive negotiating period with an investment group led by sports executive Marshall Glickman for the license, throwing the future of the SLB into further uncertainty.

With officiating already a challenging area in British basketball, the potential loss of referees this week — either through protests — could lead to a fixture crisis.

The league has been contacted for comment but has yet to respond.

The post SLB facing referee rebellion after Chair’s accusations of racism appeared first on Hoopsfix.com.