Indiana Pacers’ Paul George fined for criticising NBA refs
Indiana Pacers forward Paul George and his head coach Nate McMillan have been fined $15,000 and $10,000 respectively for public criticism of officiating, the NBA announced Wednesday.
George has been critical of the refs throughout his career, and after going to the line just once against the Chicago Bulls on Monday, the All-Star forward hinted towards NBA collusion after the lack of calls.
“Since I’ve been in this jersey we’ve always fought this battle,” George said Monday. “Ever since I’ve been playing, ever since I’ve been in this jersey we’ve fought this battle. Maybe the league has teams they like so they can give them the benefit of the doubt. We’re the little brother of the league. We’re definitely the little brother of the league.”
Wednesday’s punishment is the latest in a string of fines for George. During the 2014 Eastern Conference Final against the Miami Heat he paid $25,000 after making “home cooking” comments, he was fined $10,000 in 2015 for simply saying “there were a lot of bad calls”, and he was fined again in 2015 (this time for $35,000) for cursing about the refs on live television.
“I’ve been fined multiple times,” George added Monday. “I’ve been vocal to the point where the league issues [a statement], ‘Hey, we missed a call. Hey, we missed that.’ Officials do it during games [saying], ‘I missed that call, I missed this call. We’re sorry. We’re sorry.’ It’s getting repetitive. They see it, they know what’s going on. They know what’s a foul. They know what’s not a foul. It comes down from somewhere else how these games are going, I believe.”
McMillan told reporters after Monday’s game that the officials “got to give us more respect,” before complaining about the disparity of free throws.
“You’ve got to be aggressive and you play physical and that’s the way (the Bulls) play (George). He’s not getting any — any — calls,” McMillan said Monday. “I think it’s ridiculous that he plays 39 minutes and he shoots one free throw. They shoot 28 free throws. We shoot 10. They’ve got to call the touching and that physical play on both ends.”
