Lakers' D'Angelo Russell Fined $25K for Verbally Abusing NBA Official in Nuggets Loss
D'Angelo Russell's decision to yell at an official immediately after the Los Angeles Lakers' 108-106 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of the Western Conference playoffs came at a cost.
Joe Dumars, NBA executive vice president and head of basketball operations, announced on Saturday that Russell has been fined $25,000 for "verbally abusing a game official" on the court immediately after the conclusion of Monday's game.
Lakers players were unhappy with the officiating throughout the series. LeBron James voiced his displeasure with the replay center after a foul called against Michael Porter Jr. for appearing to hit Russell in the face on a drive to the basket was overturned in Game 2.
"D-Lo clearly gets hit in the face on a drive," James said. "What the f--- do we have a replay center for if it's going to go [like that]? It doesn't make sense to me."
Russell echoed James' sentiment with a post on X:
Lakers players also appeared to be unhappy at the end of Game 5 when Nikola Jokić didn't look to be in a legal guarding position when he made contact with LeBron James, who had to pass the ball to Taurean Prince just to give the team a chance to win at the buzzer.
The Lakers were in the bonus at that point, so James would have had an opportunity to tie the game at the free-throw line if the officials had called a foul on Jokić.
There was also an argument that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope fouled Prince on the desperation heave. The NBA's last-two-minute report said the correct no-call was made in both instances because Jokić's contact was considered "marginal" and Caldwell-Pope was in a "legally obtained position" when Prince's momentum caused him to drift into the contact.
Murray's go-ahead shot in Game 5 was his second game-winner in the series. He hit a buzzer-beater in the Nuggets' 101-99 victory in Game 2 after the Lakers led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter.
Los Angeles played a very good series against the Nuggets, but the reigning NBA champs did just enough to win in five games. The total margin of victory in Denver's four wins was 22 points.
