[CompSci87]

They have to make a quick whistle or someone will question a "late whistle"

Just to pick on this one little point: I hope refs are never influenced by the possibility that someone will question a late whistle. Although commentators love to say "late whistle" as if that makes it questionable, there's nothing wrong with it.

The Warriors' announcers have explained why we sometimes see a late whistle from a ref relatively far from the play. It comes from an officiating convention. Normally the ref closest to the play has the main responsibility to make the call. If a ref who's farther away sees an infraction, he/she waits for the nearby ref to blow the whistle. If the nearby ref seems to have missed seeing the call but the more distant ref is sure of it, he/she will blow the whistle after a slight delay.

[CompSci87]

They have to make a quick whistle or someone will question a "late whistle"

Just to pick on this one little point: I hope refs are never influenced by the possibility that someone will question a late whistle. Although commentators love to say "late whistle" as if that makes it questionable, there's nothing wrong with it.

The Warriors' announcers have explained why we sometimes see a late whistle from a ref relatively far from the play. It comes from an officiating convention. Normally the ref closest to the play has the main responsibility to make the call. If a ref who's farther away sees an infraction, he/she waits for the nearby ref to blow the whistle. If the nearby ref seems to have missed seeing the call but the more distant ref is sure of it, he/she will blow the whistle after a slight delay.