Toronto Raptors Star Fred VanVleet Called NBA Referees 'Di*ks' Going On A 'Power Trip'
Fred VanVleet went on quite the rant after Wednesday night's Toronto Raptors game and admitted he's fully expecting to be fined for the words he used to describe NBA referees.
VanVleet, who is just a few games back after stepping away for the birth of his third child, referred to refs as "d*cks" who are going on a "power trip" and even called out one official by name and said he was "fu**ing terrible."
The comments came after the Raptors' 108-100 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers where VanVleet was issued a technical foul, which, per NBA rules, can be assessed to any player, "for conduct which, in the opinion of an official, is detrimental to the game."
The technical was VanVleet's eighth of the season, which means he will be fined $3,000 for his actions. He was clearly fine to pay that and more if it meant being able to say his piece.
"I mean, I don't mind and I'll take a fine I don't really care," VanVleet said when asked about the refs in Wednesday's game. "I thought, you know, Ben Taylor was f**king terrible tonight."
VanVleet later pointed out that most of the technical fouls he's been assessed this year have been given by Taylor, "so at a certain point as a player you feel it's personal and it's never a good place to be."
From his point of view during Wednesday's game, VanVleet said he was trying to rally his team after a couple of calls by the referees that "we all disagreed with."
"If I say to my team, 'come on guys, let's keep playing through the bulls**it,' and that warrants a tech (technical foul), I think that's a little bit crazy," VanVleet told reporters.
His issue with the one official quickly turned into a full-blown rant about NBA referees in general.
"Most of the refs are trying hard. I like a lot of the refs (who) are trying hard to be pretty fair and communicate well," VanVleet said. "And then you got the other ones who just want to be d*cks and it just kind of f**ks the game up."
"Nobody's coming to see that s*it," he said. "They come to see the players."
When pressed on his opinion, VanVleet accused some refs of being on a power trip this season.
"There's a fine line, obviously, I understand that. But I think the jurisdiction and the power trip that we've been on this year with some of our officials in this league is getting out of hand," he said. "I'll take my fine for speaking on it, but it's just fu**ing ridiculous."
VanVleet ended his rant by calling the entire thing disappointing, and added he thinks, "were losing a little bit of the fabric of what the NBA is and was."
