Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue has been fined $35K for public criticism of the officiating and questioning the integrity of game officials, the NBA announced on Friday in a press release.
Lue’s comments occurred after the Clippers’ 130-125 victory over the Warriors in Golden State on Wednesday. Cameras captured him outside L.A.’s locker room greeting his players by shouting, “Where the refs at now? Cheating. That’s all they be doing."
Lue had been ejected from the game early in the fourth quarter when he received a pair of technical fouls less than a minute apart for arguing foul calls. The Clippers trailed by a score of 103-94 at the time of his ejection but came back for the victory.
A handful of NBA head coaches – including Mike Brown, Taylor Jenkins, Ime Udoka and Darko Rajakovic – have been fined this season for criticizing the officiating after games.
Unlike those other coaches, Lue didn’t air his complaints to reporters during a postgame media session, but given that he was caught on camera, the league felt it couldn’t turn a blind eye to his “cheating” comment.
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