John Wall Fined $25K for Bumping a Ref

Wizards All-Star guard John Wall was given a $25,000 slap on the wrist by the NBA on Wednesday for having brushed past referee Marc Davis at the end of Washington’s 114-106 loss to the visiting Houston Rockets on Nov.7.

John Wall GOT ejected for this… 😵pic.twitter.com/XkD82h150X

— Spark Sports (@Spark_Sports_) November 8, 2016

The League says Wall—who was also ejected Wednesday night after tussling with Marcus Smart—had an “inappropriate interaction with a game official.”

Just want to take a moment to apologize to my coaches, teammates and fans for losing my cool tonight. The … https://t.co/Wd5KgQjRqs

— John Wall (@JohnWall) November 10, 2016

Per the Washington Post:

After the game, Davis provided a statement to a pool reporter about the moment, in which he said he told Wall “to watch himself.” According to Davis, Wall then turned back and “used vulgarity and inappropriate language and was ejected on his second technical foul.”

 

Before the Wizards faced the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, Coach Scott Brooks lightheartedly said: “I heard that was going to happen today. So I’ll have to buy dinner for him tomorrow.” On Tuesday, however, Brooks expressed a more serious tone, explaining that players must keep their cool during tight games.

 

“We have to control our emotions,” Brooks said. “It’s one of those things. It happens. It’s unfortunate. Don’t know if the outcome would’ve changed, but we have to just control ourselves, our emotions. John’s always competitive. He’s always in the right place competitively, so … going forward, we have to make sure we don’t give them easy points.”