The NBA fined Houston Rockets point guard Fred VanVleet $50,000 for “confronting and directing profane language” toward referees during Saturday’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
He NBA announced the fine Monday in a statement citing Executive Vice President Joe Dumars for the decision.
VanVleet was called for a technical foul and ejected with 4.3 seconds left in the 104-98 loss at home. He was issued a technical foul for arguing an offensive foul against him in the final seconds of the game.
After the technical foul, VanVleet confronted referee John Conley, who had called for his ejection. VanVleet put his finger in Conley’s face and shared a few words with the referee as he walked off the court. He didn’t make contact with Conley, but caused Conley to recoil with his finger.
It’s not clear from the game video what VanVleet said.
VanVleet declined to go into detail about his thoughts on officiating after Saturday’s game.
“I think I’m in enough trouble tonight, so I probably don’t need to talk much about officiating with you,” VanVleet said. by The Athletic. “In the heat of the moment, you always feel good. I know referees don’t try to make mistakes, but tonight we disagreed quite a bit.”
VanVleet has been fined before for issues related to NBA officiating. In 2023, while playing with the Toronto Raptors, VanVleet He issued a profane rant after the game. during a press conference declaring that referee Ben Taylor was “fucking terrible tonight” following a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
that incident It cost VanVleet a $30,000 fine..