J.J. Redick was ejected with just over a minute to go on Monday, and the NBA is cool with that. (Getty Images)
Redick wasn’t involved in the previous play, he seemingly had no beef with the refereeing crew due to a series of calls or non-calls, and he apparently does not have a history with Josh Tiven – the official that whistled him for two quick Ts down the stretch of a two-possession game that wasn’t decided until the game’s final minute.
To hear Redick tell it, the referees were overstepping their bounds when J.J. tossed out some innocuous comments, and Minnesota coach Flip Saunders (who also received a technical) was just as out of bounds for using both poor language, and literally not staying out of bounds.
From Ben Bolch at the Los Angeles Times:
Redick also was unyielding about his role in the dust-up with Saunders. Redick said he had asked referees to intervene after Saunders walked on the court during a dead ball.
"I'm not sure why he was out on the court, but he was yelling and stuff, so I said to the ref, 'Man, get him off the court,'" Redick said. "And Flip turned to me and said, 'Man, shut the . . . up.' And he said it like three times. And I just walked to my spot and I got a double technical for that.
"So I shouldn't have kept talking, but all I said to [referee] Josh [Tiven] was, 'I'm going to get my money back' and he threw me out for that. If I'm going to get thrown out, man, at least let me say some stuff."Should the referees be giving out three quick technical fouls in a four-point game with less than 70 seconds left? Should Flip Saunders, a longtime NBA head coach, be engaging with opposing players like this?
Should Redick be tossed from the game for yelling things about how he’s “going to get my money back,” a reference to the small fine the league awards those hit with Ts and the NBA’s ability to overturn technical fouls after a review?
The NBA, in its first day of releasing reviews of calls made in the last two minutes of close games, has gone over the tape.
And, no, J.J. Redick will not be getting his money back. From the league’s report:
Redick (LAC) makes comments and gestures deemed contrary to the NBA's "respect for the game" guidelines and is issued a second unsportsmanlike technical. All unsportsmanlike technicals are reviewed by Rod Thorn after games.
Coach Saunders (MIN) complains while on the court and is assessed an unsportsmanlike technical. Redick (LAC) yells at Saunders and is assessed an unsportsmanlike technical. By rule, two technicals on opposing teams during a timeout offset (no shots)And for Redick’s final T:
This unsportsmanlike technical foul is Redick's (LAC) second and results in an ejection.Each of these calls were labeled “CC,” meaning “correct call.” You can watch the video here, although the Clippers’ feed of the broadcast clearly shows Redick continuing to yap at the officials and gesticulate after being given his first technical, whereas the Timberwolves’ feed shows Saunders clamming up.
It’s easy to understand why Redick was carrying on. For one – he’s J.J. Redick, he tends to do that. Secondly, because Redick and Saunders received offsetting technical fouls, J.J. likely assumed that the refereeing crew wouldn’t have the chutzpah to call another technical (and the requisite free throw for the Wolves; which Ricky Rubio went on to miss) this late in a game that could go either way. Redick isn’t exactly a star, but it’s rare to see referees tossing any players late in a game and even rarer for them to be handing out technical free throws that could shift the balance of the contest.
Safe in that knowledge, Redick kept talking; and even with the context of the four and possibly three-point game weighing heavily, the referees were right to tell him to hit the bricks.
And the NBA is absolutely right for releasing these reports. By and large, NBA referees do a fantastic job calling a game that is nigh on impossible to perfectly officiate, and nobody is going to be embarrassed by this sort of transparency.
Save for players like J.J. Redick, I suppose, who will not be getting his money back.
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