The NBA handed out a pair of fines on Wednesday, docking Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale $30K for his post-game rant about the officiating following his team’s Game 2 loss in San Antonio. The league also fined Marcus Smart $25K for making an obscene gesture toward home fans during the Celtics’ Game 2 loss to the Bulls.
Fizdale was a lock to be fined even before his Monday night rant concluded with the “take that for data” line that instantly went viral. The Grizzlies head coach spent time after Monday’s loss pointing to the free throw discrepancy between the two teams, after Kawhi Leonard shot more free throws than the entire Grizzlies squad.
According to Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal and Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter links), Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley sent Fizdale a text early on Tuesday morning thanking him for his comments. Conley and his teammates intend to reimburse Fizdale for the $30K fine as a sign of appreciation for aggressively taking a stand on their behalf.
Meanwhile, Smart received his $25K fine after TNT cameras showed Smart appearing to exchange words with a fan in Boston before flipping him the bird. Head coach Brad Stevens called the incident, which came midway through the fourth quarter with the Celtics trailing the Bulls by a 14-point margin, “unacceptable.”
I Personally don’t think that you can blame the refs when you lose by 14 but when your players back you and then rally behind you it’s a smart move.
Fizdale’s argument was that the Spurs took 32 free throws to the Grizzlies took only 15. As stated above, Kawhi took more free throws (19) than the entire Grizzlies roster. When the free throw disparity is that great, either one team is playing undisciplined or one side is obviously getting more calls than the other.
If Memphis doesn’t like the free throw discrepancy, stop fouling so damn much. The free throw discrepancy argument is garbage – teams are always equally disciplined.
Teams “are always equally disciplined?” That is pretty much never the case–there are outliers, but home teams almost always have a distinct advantage in foul shots, especially in the playoffs, even more so with teams featuring marquee players.
Ok, so let’s blame you for calling 125 fouls against the Grizzlies and only 10 on the Spurs… It makes more sense, huh?
Conley has a 150 million dollar deal, that’s a no brainer and nice touch to pay his coach’s fine.