The point guard for the Toronto Raptors, Fred VanVleet, criticised referee Ben Taylor’s call during the Raptors’ 108-100 defeat to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena.
VanVleet remarked, “I don’t mind, I’ll accept a fine, I don’t really care. “I f—-ing thought Ben Taylor was awful tonight. One or two of the three [officials] usually screw the game up, in my opinion, on most nights. A few games in a row have been like that.
“Obviously, losing on Monday in Denver was difficult. You show up tonight, competing fairly fiercely, and I get a bulls—- tech that really alters the dynamic and flow of the game. Most officials are making an effort. Several of the referees are kind to me; they work hard, are fairly impartial, and communicate well. Then there are some who just want to f—- the game up and act like d—-s. Nobody is coming to see that s—-, either. They travel to watch the athletes.
The NBA on Thursday fined VanVleet $30,000 for his comments.
The Raptors had 23 foul calls compared to the Clippers’ 18, while Los Angeles attempted 31 free throws as opposed to Toronto’s 14. Taylor called a technical foul on VanVleet with 7:02 left in the third quarter. At the moment, the Clippers were leading by seven.
Later in the third quarter, Toronto closed the gap to 70-68, but the Clippers increased their advantage to 12 just before the fourth quarter began.
VanVleet’s ninth technical foul of the year came in the third quarter.
The Raptors have received second-half technical fouls in each of the last two games. With 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter of their 118-113 defeat to Denver on Monday, referee Scott Foster penalised Scottie Barnes for a technical foul before ejecting him. At the moment, the Nuggets had a one-point advantage.
Barnes was dismissed on one technical foul, according to Foster’s postgame pool report, because “he used rhetoric that blatantly questioned the integrity of the crew.”
Taylor was responsible for three of VanVleet’s eight technical fouls, while another official in a game Taylor was overseeing was responsible for the other. According to VanVleet, “as a player, you feel it’s personal and it’s never a pleasant place to be” at that moment.
If anything he stated on Wednesday night called for a technician, he was asked.
VanVleet remarked, “There have been instances this year when I believe our squad is becoming distracted with the way the whistle is going. There were a few calls made earlier that we all disagreed with, especially considering the night we just had in Denver and the way it went. And I think it’s a little bit strange if I tell my team, “Come on, guys, let’s keep playing [through] the bulls—-” and it results in a technical foul. How about what we’re doing? You get what I mean? Of course, there is a delicate line, and I am aware of it. I’ll accept my punishment for speaking out about it, but I believe the power struggle we’ve been having with some of our league officials this year is out of control. It’s f—-ing crazy.
More in Sports: https://buzzing.today/sports/
Photo Credits: https://commons.wikimedia.org/