Rockets' Fred VanVleet Fined $50K by NBA After Viral Ejection Video in Blazers Loss

The NBA announced on Monday that Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet has been fined $50,000 for "confronting and directing profane language toward the officiating staff" during Saturday's 104-98 loss against the Portland Trail Blazers.

VanVleet pointed at several of the individual referees and expressed his displeasure after being called for an offensive foul with just seconds remaining in the game. He also appeared to come close to poking one official in the head and was promptly ejected.

"I think I'm in enough trouble as it is tonight," VanVleet told reporters after the game regarding the incident and the officiating in general. "Probably don't need to discuss too much officiating. I know the refs are not trying to be wrong, but we disagreed quite a bit tonight."

VanVleet appeared to already be annoyed that on Houston's previous possession, a foul wasn't called for contact against him while he attempted a wild three. Crew chief Courtney Kirkland did acknowledge after the game, during the pool report, that a foul should have been called in that instance.

"In live action, we felt that the defender stayed directly on the path of VanVleet during his attempted motion toward the basket," he said. "After video review, we see the defender did close space and did make contact with the hip of VanVleet and a foul should have been called. However, shots would not have been awarded on the play."

VanVleet said he was anticipating the Blazers fouling in that situation, hence the wild attempt.

"Most teams foul up three now," he told reporters. "So, driving down the court, listening to their whole team yell foul to the guy on the ball [Toumani Camara], trying to take the foul. Anticipated it a little bit. The ref told me he didn't think there was much contact. Trying, obviously, to get some points on the board, knowing they were going to take a foul up three."

Despite the loss, the Rockets remain third in the Western Conference with a 12-6 record, a promising start for a team trying to earn a playoff berth after missing out on the postseason for the past four years. Houston has improved its win totals in each of those years and appears to be on the right trajectory in the 2024-25 campaign.