Mavericks coach Jason Kidd was fined $35,000 for publicly criticizing the officiating and using profane language in a media interview following Dallas’ 111-107 loss to the Houston Rockets on Saturday, the NBA announced Monday.
Kidd said in his postgame news conference that he thought Cooper Flagg was fouled on a missed layup attempt with 25 seconds left and called each member of the officiating crew out by name.
“Sean [Wright], Simone [Jelks] and Jason [Goldenberg] were awful tonight,” Kidd said. “It’s unacceptable. It’s a foul and he needs to be at the free throw line. Does he make both? That’s up to the player, but the referees did not do their job tonight.”
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The fine was assessed by James Jones, the league’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations, after the NBA’s Last Two Minute report revealed the play in question was a correct no-call. The report stated Kevin Durant jumped vertically to defend Flagg’s shot and Amen Thompson was in a legal guarding position.
A whistle was not blown to stop the clock and Durant found Tari Eason on the subsequent play for an uncontested dunk to extend Houston’s lead to 111-107 with 14.4 seconds remaining.
Kidd’s comments regarding officiating were overshadowed by his expletive-laced response to a question about the national criticism surrounding his decision to use Flagg as the team’s starting point guard earlier this season. He dismissed the question and used the F-word four times before abruptly ending his news conference.
The Mavericks lost their fourth straight game on Saturday, but Flagg became the first teenager in NBA history to record consecutive 30-point double-doubles.
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