Basketball referee takes call DURING game and proceeds to chat away [Updated]

Published Jan. 7, 2015 9:05 a.m. ET

Brett Smiley

***PUN ALERT***

This is one of the worst referee calls we've ever seen. According to Deadspin's tipster, the referee who callously disregarded the play between these young athletes was officiating a game between North Whidbey Middle School and Oak Harbor Middle School in Oak Harbor, Wash.

I can think of only a few reasons why taking the call during live play would make sense: he's an on-call physician orchestrating vital medical treatment; he's somehow negotiated the return of an NBA franchise to Seattle; he's got the nuke codes in a matter of national security. Actually that must be it -- stay tuned for season five of Homeland.

Update: Turns out the call had nothing to do with nuke codes. Via Deadspin, here's the explanation provided by an Oak Harbor Public Schools communications officer: