The Houston Rockets were upset by the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday and Fred VanVleet pointed the fingers at the officials.
With only four seconds remaining and the Rockets down by five points, VanVleet was whistled for an offensive foul. Then he went on to point at every ref on the floor while also offering some colorful words towards them.
Due to this incident, he was ejected from the game on Saturday and then was fined two days later.
On Monday, NBA executive vice president and head of basketball operations Joe Dumars announced that they are going to fine VanVleet a hefty $50,000. However, they did not suspend the player for this incident.
Here is a quote from an official press release.
Van Vleet was fined “for confronting and directing profane language toward the officiating staff near the conclusion of the Rockets’ 104-98 loss.”
You can check out the official press release from the NBA about this matter.
VanVleet seemed frustrated about the possession before his ejection from the game. This may be what led to his ejection. He was fouled when he attempted a 3-pointer with the Rockets trailing by only three.
You can check out the play in question in this tweet.
Crew chief Courtney Kirkland spoke with reporters after the game and said that a foul should have been called on Camara. Here is what he said.
“In live action, we felt that the defender stayed directly on the path of VanVleet during his attempted motion toward the basket. After video review, we see the defender did close space and did make contact with the hip of VanVleet and a foul should have been called. However, shots would not have been awarded on the play.”
