NBA fines Westbrook, George, Donovan for comments about Sunday’s officiating
DENVER – After Sunday’s loss in Portland, the Thunder aired some grievances.
On Wednesday, it paid the price.
The NBA fined Russell
Westbrook, Paul George and Billy Donovan $15,000 each for comments about the officiating after the team’s 103-99 loss to the Trail Blazers.
The league also upheld one of the plays that upset the Thunder, ruling after review that the foul that earned Carmelo Anthony an ejection from the game would remain classified as a flagrant-2 foul.
That play was one of two that upset OKC on Sunday.
At the 6:35 mark of the third quarter, Westbrook appeared to be accidentally hit in the face. Donovan said he asked for a review of the play and was denied.
With 4:26 to play in the third quarter, Anthony drove baseline, drew contact from Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic and finished a layup. He appeared headed to the free-throw line for a potential three-point play.
Instead, officials reviewed the play and determined that Anthony had committed a flagrant-2 foul when he hit Nurkic in the face with an elbow. That penalty carries an automatic ejection.
Donovan said he’d “never seen in the history of the game a guy get an and-one play and then get ejected from the game.”
“I’m trusting the fact that they looked at the replay and it did determine that,” Donovan said. “But three guys are on the court, and they call an and-one? And then a guy is thrown out of the game?”
Westbrook profanely criticized the discrepancy in reviewing the two plays.
But the more pointed criticism – and the one that likely earned the fine – was that the Thunder was treated unfairly.
“I just think that when it’s us, our team, myself, they don’t do the same thing they do other games,” Westbrook said.
George echoed that sentiment, saying Westbrook and the Thunder “haven’t been getting the benefit of the doubt” from officials.
Anthony, Westbrook fouls reviewed
Because the league upheld the flagrant-2 on Anthony, he’ll have two flagrant-foul points on his record for the remainder of the season.
A player is given two points for a flagrant-2 foul and one for a flagrant-1. If a player exceeds five points, he’s suspended for a game. If a player with five or six points commits a flagrant-2 foul, he’s given a two-game suspension. If a player with seven or more points commits either a flagrant-1 or flagrant-2, he’s suspended for a game.
In a statement sent via text message, NBA spokesman Tim Frank said the league agreed with on-court officials that Anthony’s foul on Nurkic “met the criteria of hard contact above the shoulders with high potential for injury,” labeling the play “dangerous and reckless in nature.”
Westbrook was hit with a flagrant foul in Tuesday’s loss at Sacramento when he appeared to strike the Kings’ Bogdan Bogdanovic on the follow-through after a jump shot.
After review, the league on Wednesday “determined that the contact was part of Russell’s downward shooting motion and the defender was moving forward into his shooting space,” Frank said via text.
Westbrook on Tuesday declined to offer his take on that foul.
“I have no idea,” he said. “I’m not about to get into it and go back and forth with you or the refs. I’m done with that. I moved on, man. I’m worried about taking care of our team, and that’s all I’m worried about. You may want to ask the refs or something if you want to get more in-depth. I’m not gonna go into depth about every call, every play that happens on the floor. Just moving on.”