Blazers mistakenly mark their second-leading scorer as inactive against the Clippers.
C.J. McCollum showed up to play against the Clippers on Wednesday like he was supposed to. He went into the locker room, put on his uniform and went out to warm up as usual.
But when it was time to start the game, the Trailblazers didn’t have their second-best player on the court.
Why? Because someone on the team’s staff mistakenly listed him as inactive — a "clerical error," as the team called it.
Blazers said a "clerical error" was made pregame in the inactive list,which included CJ McCollum as inactive. But they said it was corrected
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) January 7, 2016Teams are required to submit a final list of active players one hour before the start of the game. The Blazers claimed their clerical error was corrected, but McCollum was not allowed to enter the game. Clippers representatives were seen protesting that assertion, and apparently they won out.
Goes without saying: Blazers made a monumental and embarrassing mistake with McCollum snafu. Just can't have that happen.
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) January 7, 2016Rules state that a technical foul can be assessed prior to the game for allowing a player declared inactive to play.
Here's the rule pic.twitter.com/sbUQoRupOK
— Erik Gundersen (@blazerbanter) January 7, 2016But according to the Los Angeles Times, the NBA ruled in the Clippers' favor, and McCollum wasn't allowed to play.
McCollum, who was dressed to play, left the bench for the locker room, returning in street clothes. The former Lehigh star is second on the team in scoring to Damian Lillard with a 21-point average. He also came into the game with a hot hand, scoring 25 points or better in four of his team’s last five games.