Fred VanVleet is no stranger to blowing up at NBA officials, but his tiff with the referees in the closing seconds of the Houston Rockets’ 104-98 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night was extreme even by his standards — which is why it ultimately resulted in a $50,000 fine that the league announced on Monday, Nov. 25.
It’s still not clear specifically what VanVleet was so upset about, as he demurred to dig a deeper hole when asked about officiating after the game. However, eagle-eyed lip-readers online appeared to catch him calling each ref “a b—-” — and nearly poking one in the eye! — while getting ejected with 4.1 seconds left in the game on Saturday night:
VanVleet will (seemingly) only avoid suspension because an alternate angle made it clear he just narrowly avoided making contact with crew umpire John Conley, which would have likely seen him sidelined for a while:
Fred VanVleet 100% just copped a suspension at the end of this game…
Told the ref “you’re a b*tch and pointed his finger right in his face” pic.twitter.com/iNjLJ3EFeg
— Bradeaux (@BradeauxNBA) November 24, 2024
This is easily the most expletive-filled eruption I can recall cameras catching between a player and referees since Kelly Oubre insulted an entire officiating crews’ bloodlines last March.
But the NBA may have made VanVleet think this type of conduct can get him good results. In 2023, VanVleet was fined $30,000 for calling referee Ben Taylor “f—ing terrible.” That may not sound good on its face… until you realize the NBA unofficially demoted Taylor by no longer giving him crew chief assignments following VanVleet’s detonation.
So while VanVleet definitely earned his fine here, if it results in Conley facing similar consequences to his old enemy Taylor… the Rockets guard may be happy with the trade-off.
