Three members of the Rockets were fined on Thursday, the NBA announced in a press release (Twitter link). Head coach Ime Udoka was docked $50K, forward Tari Eason was penalized $35K, and center Alperen Sengun received a $15K fine.
All three members of the organization were fined for incidents that occurred on Tuesday, when Houston lost by nine points in Sacramento. Udoka and Sengun each received a pair of technical fouls and were ejected with just under two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
According to the league, Udoka was fined for “confronting and directing profane language toward a game official, failing to leave the court in a timely manner after being ejected, and public criticism of the officiating during his postgame press conference.”
Speaking to reporters after the loss, Udoka complained about “blatant missed calls” and implored the referees to “get some f—ing glasses or open your eyes.”
Sengun was hit with a less severe fine for “directing inappropriate language toward a game official.”
The NBA says Eason was fined for a post-game incident in which he threw a towel and directed inappropriate language toward a fan in the spectator stands. Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link) expressed surprise that the league failed to mention the fact that Eason tried to enter the stands to confront the heckling fan and had to be held back by security officials.
Thought that said “Fires” for a hot second
Not again (almost)..
Pretty sure the NBA can’t fire coaches. Ban them, sure, but that’s different. Idk that any coaches have been banned in the NBA anyway. NCAA, yes, but not the NBA.
True, hence why I was so surprised. I was like wow he must’ve rly upped the ante from last time lmao
Houston continues to be the NBA’s version of a dumpster fire. It’s a shame because he’s a great coach but it’s likely they are trying to be the new bad boys or something.
Umm…If you saw that game, you would agree with the Rockets. Officiating hasn’t been good, and there’s no accountability for them either.
The biggest issue is we have no way of knowing if there is accountability and, if so, to what degree? The league says it has advanced ref metrics that is uses to judge performance, but because we have no access to that data and the league doesn’t provide any public-facing evaluations it’s all a mystery. And such a mystery, rightfully, leads to dissatisfaction.
I doubt you watch them. Rockets are one best stories so far. And the officiating was bad that gm.
Damn, a dumpster fire with one of the youngest teams in the league and 2nd in the west currently. What a ridiculous comment.
Maybe a hobo dumpster fire that keeps people warm and provides hope…