Devin Booker Fined by NBA, How Much Money Did Suns Star Lose for Criticizing Refs?
After calling out an official by name after the Phoenix Suns' Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Devin Booker has picked up a lofty fine from the NBA.
The league fined the Suns' star $35,000 for "public criticism of the officiating," the NBA announced in a press release. The league also announced that it is rescinding Booker's technical foul from the third quarter of Wednesday's game.
Booker called out official James Williams following the 120-107 loss, saying that the officiating on Wednesday is "bad for the sport."
"In my 11 years, I haven't called a ref out by name, but James [Williams] was terrible tonight through and through," Booker said. "It's bad for the sport, bad for the integrity of the sport. People are going to start viewing this as a WWE if they're not held responsible.
"It just feels disrespectful. I know I haven't won a championship in this league, but I have been in it for 11 years now. So to get to this point to be treated like that, for me to even be saying something out loud, it's bad."
The Thunder shot 25 free throws on Wednesday, compared to 22 by the Phoenix Suns.
Dillon Brooks, who fouled out of the game late in the fourth quarter, also publicly called out the refs, specifically voicing his complaints about the way OKC star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is officiated.
"[Gilgeous-Alexander is] a little frail, and that's what the refs are going to call," Brooks said. "I got to be smarter about it, but this is the playoffs. It's a man's game.
"Like, I used to watch this back when Michael Jordan was playing or whoever else, when LeBron was younger. This is physical basketball. I don't get why all the dropping and the falling and the flopping and the flailing and all this stuff is allowed when we get to the playoffs. Leave that for the [regular] season for the fans. This is about who's the better team, who's a more with-it team. Don't decide the games on no free throws."
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 9.0 free throw attempts per game during the regular season, the third-most in the league. He attempted nine on Wednesday and 17 in Game 1.
Whether Booker and Brooks' comments will impact how Game 3 is called remains to be seen, but the Suns can't rely on having calls go their way as they look to avoid going down 3-0.
