Rarely has a player been so angry with a referee and so calm and precise. After losses to the Nuggets and Clippers, Fred VanVleet had let loose against Ben Taylor, who whistled him three of his eight techniques this season, and guilty according to him of having rotted the last game of the Raptors.
” I found Ben Taylor to have been absolutely awful. We know that most matches there will be one or two of the three referees who can screw up the match! It’s been two games in a row now. In Denver, it was already difficult, obviously. And (against the Clippers), we were competitive, we fought well and in the third quarter, I take a stupid technique that changes the whole dynamic of the game, and that changed the whole rhythm of the game. »
Fred VanVleet pleads sincerity
Unsurprisingly, the NBA punished him, and Fred VanVleet will have to pay a $30,000 fine. He expected it, and 24 hours after his rant, he apologized.
“I was speaking on behalf of a lot of people, and obviously I was frustrated and sensitive,” Fred VanVleet told reporters in Toronto on Thursday. “But there are a lot of people who feel the same. I hope in the future we will see some changes for the better, for the betterment of the game. There was a bit of emotion, it was a tough loss, things didn’t go the way we expected wanted…”
The Raptors point guard adds that he is a genuine and cash person, and that we should expect more moments like this.
“We live, we learn and we move forward. It came out sincerely, live. I wouldn’t have done this if I felt like I had another solution. I felt like I had exhausted my solutions this season, on several occasions. That’s part of it, and I’m human… I’ll be seen making mistakes live and doing things that aren’t always perfect. It’s not very professional on my part, it’s a shame.
