Devin Booker Fined $35K For Criticizing Officials

Suns star Devin Booker has been fined $35K for his public criticism of the Game 2 referee crew, the NBA announced (via Twitter).

Booker was not shy in expressing his disagreement with the technical foul he received in the third quarter while saving a ball, which he claimed was prompted by the Thunder’s Alex Caruso telling the referee to call it. While teammate Dillon Brooks’ technical foul was rescinded after the game, per the NBA Official account (Twitter link), Booker’s was not.

“In my 11 years, I haven’t called a ref out by name, but James (Williams) was terrible tonight, through and through,” he said. “It’s bad for the sport, bad for the integrity of the sport. People are going to start viewing this as a WWE if they’re not held responsible.”

Suns owner Mat Ishbia backed Booker up following the game, taking to Twitter to say that while the refereeing wasn’t the reason they lost, it was still unacceptable.

“If the referees are going to demand respect from the players — as they should — then the players should demand respect from the referees,” Ishbia said. “When a referee is missing calls and clearly disrespecting the players, almost mocking them, they must be held accountable.”

The league said that following video review and inquiries, they “found no basis to any claim of bias or misconduct by game officials.”

Game 3 of the first-round series between the Suns and Thunder will be Saturday.