Fred VanVleet is not any stranger to blowing up at NBA officers, however his tiff with the referees within the closing seconds of the Houston Rockets’ 104-98 loss to the Portland Path Blazers was excessive even by his requirements.
It’s not instantly clear what VanVleet was so upset about, however eagle-eyed lip-readers on-line appeared to catch him calling every ref “a b—-” — and practically poking one within the eye! — whereas getting ejected with 4.1 seconds left within the sport on Saturday evening:
Fortunately for VanVleet, his seemingly inevitable suspension received’t be fairly so long as the preliminary video made it seem, as an alternate angle made it clear he simply narrowly averted making contact with crew umpire John Conley, which might have possible seen him sidelined for some time:
Fred VanVleet 100% simply copped a suspension on the finish of this sport…
Advised the ref “you’re a b*tch and pointed his finger proper in his face” pic.twitter.com/iNjLJ3EFeg
— Bradeaux (@BradeauxNBA) November 24, 2024
That is simply probably the most expletive-filled eruption I can recall cameras catching between a participant and referees since Kelly Oubre insulted a whole officiating crews’ bloodlines final March, and provided that VanVleet practically made contact with a ref too… he seems set to overlook at the least just a few video games for the 12-6 Rockets, and face a considerable wonderful.
In equity to VanVleet, although, the NBA might have made him suppose this conduct can get him good outcomes. In 2023, VanVleet was fined $30,000 for calling referee Ben Taylor “f—ing horrible.” That won’t sound good on its face… till you notice the NBA unofficially demoted Taylor by now not giving him crew chief assignments following VanVleet’s detonation.
So whereas VanVleet could be very clearly going to get (at the least) fined once more right here, if it leads to Conley going through comparable penalties to his previous enemy Taylor… the Rockets guard could also be proud of the trade-off.
