Chris Paul's Beef with New Referee a Symptom of Larger Problem for Clippers

CLEVELAND — Chris Paul was focused on what he viewed as injustice against him—and let go some words that others might view as unfair toward the NBA’s third-ever female referee.

Paul was frustrated by the third-quarter technical foul referee Lauren Holtkamp called against him, which he said was whistled despite him not cursing and only asking why she wasn’t letting his team inbound the ball faster in the Los Angeles Clippers’ 105-94 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night.

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Paul called Holtkamp’s ruling “terrible” and “ridiculous” and said, “There’s no way that’s a technical.”

He followed that up by saying if that’s how first-year full-time NBA referee Holtkamp makes calls, “This might not be for her.”

Paul also disputed the technical Holtkamp called shortly thereafter on Clippers teammate DeAndre Jordan, adding, "I swear on my kid" [that all I said to her was] "'Why uh-uh?'" when she said, "'Uh-uh,'" to convey the Clippers weren't allowed to inbound the ball as quickly as they wanted.

Whether the words come across as sexist because Holtkamp is female, she is a rookie full-time NBA referee. Paul certainly seemed aware of that and intended to make reference to that, but he was fundamentally outraged at the call. Holtkamp was promoted for this season from the NBA Development League.

Paul's postgame venting after a TNT game featuring five Clippers technical fouls just added to the overall effect that the team is building a reputation for clashing with referees.

This season was supposed to put the Clippers' past negativity from losing and Donald Sterling and whatever else behind them. Ongoing clashes with officiating crews is not what this team should be known for.

Whether it’s the chicken or the egg, the Clippers have been a bit disappointing this season in playing together, playing with joy and playing like a consistent title contender.

And they’ve been really disappointing in whining about things not going their way with the officials.

Clippers coach Doc Rivers brushed off their four technicals in the third quarter after facing a 23-point halftime deficit.

“The game was over already,” Rivers said.

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Yet rather than fight back or just give up, the Clippers were left looking like whiners instead. Whether worthy of a technical, Paul made the decision to engage with Holtkamp in that moment rather than just playing the game.

“I don’t think it’s fair to be judged off your past,” Blake Griffin said in reference to teammate Matt Barnes, whose two technicals Thursday night moved him into a tie with Russell Westbrook and Markieff Morris for most in the league this season.

“I’ve seen Matt Barnes be called for some techs that wouldn’t get called for other guys,” Griffin said.

Paul has long been viewed as someone who will speak his mind to the referees, but this season, it has been teammates Barnes (11), Griffin (nine) and Jordan (seven) piling up more technical fouls.

Jordan said he was not yelling at Holtkamp before she called a technical on him—and he said referees Ken Mauer and Eric Lewis agreed with him, prompting the big man to hope the league will rescind his technical.

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Jordan said Barnes apologized to his teammates for leaving them via ejection with the second technical. But, like Paul, Barnes put more blame on the referees than accepting wrongdoing, saying, “It keeps happening.”

“If you can’t play with emotion,” Barnes said, “I don’t see how you can play.”

Time and again, you’ve heard coaches at every level say nothing good comes from pouring your energy into the officiating as opposed to your performance.

But with the Clippers, it indeed keeps happening. It’s just one of the things they’ll need to shore up in the next two months to be serious title contenders in the first year of Steve Ballmer’s fresh new regime.

Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.