Mavericks’ Doncic fined for gesture
We just couldn’t let this stuff go …
Luka
Dallas Mavericks star
Doncic was fined $35,000 on Friday for directing a money sign toward officials in the final seconds of a loss to Golden State, The Associated Press reported.
Doncic walked toward officials while rubbing his fingers together with 1.7 seconds left in the 127-125 loss on Wednesday. The four-time All-Star apparently was upset that a foul wasn’t called when he missed a layup.
Dallas was trailing 125-122 when Doncic caught a pass under the basket and his layup bounced off the back of the rim. After the Mavericks committed a foul to stop the clock, Doncic made the gesture.
The NBA said the fine was for “an inappropriate and unprofessional gesture toward a game official.”
Officials didn’t give him a technical over the gesture. Doncic frequently complains to officials and is one technical foul away from 16 this season, which would trigger a one-game suspension. The count doesn’t carry over into the playoffs.
Dallas owner Mark Cuban
said he planned to protest the loss to the Warriors over a sequence late in the third quarter that led to an uncontested dunk for Golden State’s Kevon Looney.
The Mavericks thought they had possession coming out of a timeout and lined up on their offensive end. The Warriors inbounded on the other end with no defenders, leading to Looney’s easy bucket for a 90-87 Golden State lead.
Before the timeout, official Andy Nagy signaled possession for Golden State when the ball went out of bounds, but quickly pointed to the Dallas bench to indicate a timeout.
The Mavs contended that official Michael Smith must have thought Dallas had possession because he was on the same end of the floor as the Mavs. Dallas believed officials should have stopped play to sort out the confusion.
Trivia question
On this date in 1997, the Hartford Whalers announced they were moving. To what city did they move?
RIP, Jerry Jerry Green,
a Detroit sports writer who covered 56 consecutive Super Bowls, has died at 94, The Detroit News said Friday.
Green retired as a columnist at the News in 2004 but continued to attend the Super Bowl for the newspaper until this year. His streak began with Green Bay’s 35-10 victory over Kansas City in the first Super Bowl in 1967.
“Jerry Green is part of the very fabric of the Super Bowl!”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told the News in January.
Green, a native of New York City, died Thursday night, the News reported. He was a sports writer in Detroit for The Associated Press before joining the News in 1963.
“I’ve never wanted to do anything else,” Green said earlier this year about a career covering a variety of sports.
“And he was unabashedly proud of the paper, his contributions and his colleagues. He gave us his all and we’ll miss him,” said Gary Miles said, News editor and publisher.
Before the Super Bowl era, Green covered the 1957 NFL championship game, which was won by the Detroit Lions. The Lions still haven’t played in a Super Bowl.
Trivia answer
The Whalers moved to North Carolina and became the Carolina Hurricanes.