Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and head coach Rick Carlisle fined by the NBA – NBA Update
The Dallas Mavericks haven’t had too much joy this past week. The reigning NBA World Champions lost a closely fought game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the head coach Rick Carlisle was ejected, and on Friday Carlisle and owner Mark Cuban were hit by
heavy fines from the NBA.
"I think it's fair," Carlisle said of the $35,000 fine Friday. "If you're responsible for a ball going into the stands, you're subject to a fine. I accept it and regret that situation happening, even though it was accidental and have got to move forward."
Cuban, who is the most infamous and colourful NBA owner in history and also probably the most fined one, received a $75,000 ticket. He had some severe words for the match officials after the game that landed him in hot water with the league after quite a
while, at least by his standards.
"Look, I haven't said a whole lot about the officiating in a long, long time, but I haven't seen it this bad in a long, long time," Cuban told ESPNDallas.com after the loss. "Guys miss calls; that's part of the game. You're not always going to have a great
crew. Officials have got to learn that's part of the game.”
"But these were officials that have been part of the league for years, and it was just off-the-charts bad. And if no one ever says anything, nothing ever happens."
Carlisle received a technical after confronting the referees after a non-call at the start of the final quarter. He stepped onto the court to record his protest and the officials did not like it one bit. Soon after though, the usually calm and collected
coach went off his rocker once again.
Rick kicked the basketball, which he later confessed he tried to kick at the officials. The ball however went into the crowd and hit a young boy in the head. Carlisle was immediately handed a second technical and sent to the locker room.
Before leaving courtside though, Carlisle made sure to check on the boy, apologized to him, and then went out amid rapturous applause by the Mavericks faithful. Rick made sure to apologise after the game as well, at the start of his post-match press conference,
and admitted that he the referees had made the right call.
Cuban though isn’t one to repent. He still stands firm on his earlier comments, saying that the referees were really poor overall on the night. The outspoken owner wasn’t expected by anyone to take a softer tone and has defiantly declared that he will match
the fine with a contribution to charity, something that has become a norm over the years.
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