Raptors' Masai Ujiri Fined $35K for Making Inappropriate Remarks to Official

The NBA fined Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri $35,000 for his actions during his team's loss to the Miami Heat on Saturday.

The NBA announced the fine Wednesday, noting Ujiri was fined "for approaching the scorer's table and directing inappropriate remarks toward a game official."

Miami won the game 112-109 with Jimmy Butler leading the way for the victors with 24 points, five assists and four rebounds. Pascal Siakam also stuffed the stat sheet for Toronto with 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

Yet the contest stood out for much more than the result, as Toronto's Christian Koloko and Miami's Caleb Martin were each ejected in the third quarter. They were battling for position for a rebound, and Martin was called for a foul as Koloko went to the ground.

They became tangled with each other and even ended up in the seats. Officials stopped the game to review the play after players from both sides came over to the altercation.

"I just stood up for myself and I get ejected," Koloko told reporters. "That's what happened."

Eric Koreen of The Athletic reported it wasn't clear if Ujiri's comments to the official were related to the scuffle.

The NBA issued punishments, suspending Martin and teammate Nikola Jovic for one game and fining Koloko $15,000. Jovic was suspended for leaving the bench area.

Toronto enacted some revenge and defeated Miami 98-90 in Monday's rematch behind 24 points and nine assists from Fred VanVleet.

As for Ujiri, he has been with the Raptors since 2013 and helped build the roster that won the championship in the 2018-19 campaign. He was with the Denver Nuggets before joining Toronto and won the NBA Executive of the Year in his final year with the Western Conference franchise.