Erik Spoelstra slapped with a $25000 fine for making comments regarding officiating – NBA Update
The Miami Heat have advanced passed the Indiana Pacers to book their place in the Conference Finals and now await the winner of the other semi final series which is in progress between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers.
Beofre the game-6, Miami's head coach Erik Spoelstra came out publically to make comments regarding the amount of physical play that has gone ignored against his teams' two stars, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. That has got him
a $25000 fine from the NBA.
"The league does not have a problem with hard fouls on our two main guys," Spoelstra said. "In nine games now, there's been over a dozen hard fouls to the face, some of the tomahawk variety, some have drawn blood. They don't have
a problem with it so we don't have a problem with it. We'll focus on what we can control."
The comments were directed towards the direct suspension given to Udonis Haslem for fouling Tyler Hansbrough, and Dexter Pittman getting a three match ban for his intentional jab at Lance Stephenson during the game 5 win.
He wanted to make his point very clear, addressing the lack of decisions. Hansbrough was not suspended for his flagrant foul on Wade in game 5 and was let off by just updating his foul to a flagrant-2, which if called that way
during the game would have earned him a straight ejection from the contest.
It was an intensely physically series which has the left the Miami team battered and bruised before eventually closing it out in 6 games. Haslem received 9 stitches above his right eye after Game 3 and Dwyane Wade got an almost
identical bruise in Game 4 which has left Spoelstra very frustrated.
However a direct public comment towards the way these games have been officiated has left Spoelstra`s wallet $25000 lighter which would have been equal to the bonus for making a return trip to the Finals.
NBA decision committee has been very critical about comments directly addresses towards the officials previously as well. Before the series even began, Indiana Pacers Head Coach Frank Vogel was slapped with a $1500 fine for directly
trying to manipulate the officials by calling the Miami team as the ‘biggest floppers’ in the NBA.
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