Utah Jazz All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert are now a bit lighter in the pocket. After Utah’s 131-123 overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night, Mitchell and Gobert both complained to members of the media about the refereeing in the game, and they were fined for it. .
On Friday, the NBA announced that Mitchell had been fined $ 25,000 for public criticism of the refereeing and his conduct leaving the playing field, while Gobert was fined $ 20,000 for public criticism of arbitration. Mitchell’s fine was more than Gobert’s because Mitchell also aggressively knocked over a cooler on his way to the locker room after being kicked out of the contest.
From the NBA:
Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell was fined $ 25,000 for public criticism of the officiating and his conduct as he exited the playing field and Jazz Center Rudy Gobert was sentenced to a fine of $ 20,000 for public criticism of the officiating, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
Mitchell and Gobert spoke to the media following Utah’s 131-123 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on March 3 at the Wells Fargo Center. Mitchell, who received two technical fouls and was thrown 30.8 seconds from time, recklessly knocked over a water fountain as he left the field.
Mitchell apparently feels league officials want to get the Jazz this season, though his claims don’t appear to be based on fact.
“Now I’m never the type to blame a referee, to blame an official – I can say I could have done more – but it’s getting out of hand,” Mitchell said after the loss to the Sixers, via ESPN. . “There have been games like this that we have won; there have been games like this that we have lost. But all that arbitrage stuff. … we’re nice, we don’t complain, like, we don’t. We don’t get frustrated, we fight through things, and the fact that we are continually … fucked up, in a way, by that.
“We won this game, in my personal opinion,” Mitchell continued. “But like I said, I’ll give them credit. They won. It doesn’t matter. Cool. But it’s been a consistent thing, and the question is, ‘Can we do it? Can we keep it going. ? Are we for real No. 1? ‘ And, yeah, we are. And it’s getting ridiculous that that’s what’s going on … But it’s getting really out of control. It’s really, really, really out of control. And the league needs to do something about it. subject. I want to see the report from the last two minutes. I want to see it. But it’s getting out of hand. ”
Gobert spoke to members of the media after Mitchell, and he doubled down on Mitchell’s comments by saying that the Jazz are regularly officiated differently from the rest of the league.
“Our guys aren’t able to get the calls that everyone gets in the f — league,” Gobert said. “We know we’re Utah Jazz, and maybe some people don’t want us to go as far as possible, but it’s disappointing … I think it’s disrespectful, to be honest, to basketball and our team, and I hope they watch the game when they get home. I hope they are ashamed when they watch the game. ”
Gobert went so far as to say that he believed that the fact that Jazz played in a small market was held against them.
“After playing in this league for eight years, it’s a little more difficult [to be in a small market], and that’s one of the things that we have to overcome, “said Gobert.” That’s why I said to the guys, ‘When you’re a small market, you have to be better than just better. You have to be an elite and you have to control what you can control. ‘”
Mitchell and Gobert were obviously upset after a tough loss, but they went a bit far with their comments and unsubstantiated claims. The last two minutes report for the game between the 76ers and Jazz admitted to six errors – three against the Jazz and three against the Sixers. In other words, the match was refereed evenly, albeit poorly, along the entire length.
All in all, these have been tough days for Mitchell and Gobert. They lost a tough overtime battle against the Sixers on Wednesday, they were the last two players selected in the NBA All-Star Game draft Thursday night, and they were fined on Friday. The good news for the duo is that the Jazz have the best record in the league heading into the All-Star break, and they look like a legitimate contender. Now they just have to continue into the second half of the season.
