Point guard Fred VanVleet of the Toronto Raptors was fined $30,000 on Thursday for his foul-mouthed tirade directed at the officials during Wednesday’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Particularly directed at referee Ben Taylor, VanVleet had some remarks after receiving a technical foul in the third quarter.
“Fine, I don’t care, I’ll take it. Ben Taylor was f——— awful, in my opinion, tonight. I felt that, out of the three, there’s always one or two that just fucked up the game, VanVleet remarked. “For a few games in a row, it has been that way. Denver was undoubtedly difficult.We compete extremely hard tonight, and I get a bullshit tech in the third quarter. alters both the overall dynamic and pace of the game.”
The Clippers outscored Toronto 108-100 in the second and third quarters, but VanVleet finished the game with 13 points, four rebounds, and nine assists.
The Raptors only made 14 trips to the free-throw line, compared to 31 for the Clippers.
The Raptors, who are still fighting for a spot in the NBA play-in round, dropped their second straight game while travelling.
VanVleet stated that he thinks Toronto has had a difficult season because of the officials’ excessive involvement in game outcomes. He continued by saying that for him, that has always been particularly the case when Taylor, a ten-year NBA veteran, is on the field.
“The majority of referees make an effort and are generally fair in their communication, but there are others that are just out to get and kind of screw the game up. This season has been disappointing because nobody is coming to see that s—t; instead, they are coming to see the players. I believe that we are losing some of the essence of what the NBA is and was.
“You can check up that Ben Taylor has officiated for the most of my techs this year. As a result, as a player, you eventually get the feeling that it’s personal and never a good place to be. We were outplayed tonight, which isn’t why we lost, but it does make things more difficult to overcome.”
Sportsnet Stats shows that VanVleet has received a team-high eight technical fouls this season, five of which have occurred in contests when Taylor was an official. VanVleet only received nine technical calls in the previous two seasons combined, and none of those calls came during games that Taylor was part of the officiating crew for.
Following Scottie Barnes’ dubious technical foul call at the conclusion of the Raptors’ game against the Nuggets, VanVleet expressed his displeasure with the refereeing.
VanVleet told reporters on Monday, “We were down to a one-point game in less than a minute and the game just kind of went to s–t a little bit.” “Seeing a fantastic game like that end in ruins is difficult, but we need to figure out a way around it.”
