Dave Fizdale Fined $30K for Blasting the Refs

UPDATE: Mike Conley and his teammates are going to pick up the $30K tab for head coach David Fizdale, who says his now-legendary rant was “worth it.”

“Obviously, I was pretty set on getting the point across,” Fizdale said. “If it rallies our fans and it sounds like we’re selling T-shirts right now, and all of the money is going back into our community then it was worth it for me.”

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Original story…

The NBA announced Wednesday that Memphis Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale has been fined $30,000 after blistering the refs following a Game 1 loss in San Antonio.

(Typically, coaches are levied a $25K fine for similar offenses.)

Fizdale was incensed after Kawhi Leonard shot more free-throws (19) than the Grizz as a team (15).

Grizzlies players were equally upset about the officiating in the Spurs’ 96-82 victory.

Per The Commercial Appeal:

“Zach Randolph, the most rugged guy in the game, had zero free throws,” Fizdale said, his voice booming. “But somehow, Kawhi Leonard had 19 free throws. First half, we shot 19 shots in the paint and we had six free throws. They shot 11 times in the paint and they had 23 free throws. I’m not a numbers guy, but that doesn’t seem to add up. Overall, 35 times we shot the ball in the paint. We had 15 free throws for the game. They shot 18 times in the paint and had 32 free throws. Kawhi shot more free throws than our whole team. Explain it to me.”

 

The comments were directed at the work of Dan Crawford, Rodney Mott and Bill Spooner.

 

[Mike] Conley, who made four of five foul shots, backed his coach’s assertion but resisted saying anything that would warrant discipline from the league.

 

“As far as getting to the free-throw line? No, but they respect me as a person, I feel like. But when it comes to the game, I’m not sure,” Conley said when asked if he believed the officials respect him on the court.