It has not been a good month for the Los Angeles Clippers and now Paul George will be a little lighter in the wallet.
The star guard was fined $35,000 by the NBA on Thursday for comments he made about the officials after Tuesday’s 111-108 loss to the Nuggets.
“I thought we played great — it’s tough, the adversity of playing against the extra three,” George said, referring to officials Josh Tiven, Natalie Sago, and Matt Boland, according to The Athletic. “I thought they were awful. But, defending champs, we got to play better. There’s a lot to be positive about. I’m not one for moral victories, but I thought we showed more of a sign of a team tonight that’s close to getting it over the hump.”
He later added, according to Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times, that the fact he only had five free throws in the game was “very disrespectful.”
“So many times I got hit on layups, three-pointers, it was constant. Jumpshots, getting hit, smacked on the forearm,” George said, according to Greif. “I mean, it was poor, a poor job.”
In a statement announcing the fine, the NBA said George’s “history of public criticism of the officiating” played a part in determining the amount. George was also fined $35,000 in March of 2021 after he said, among other things, that “It’s insane that we’re not getting these calls.”
The Clippers have now lost six games in a row — including five since James Harden was acquired. George had a chance to send the game against the Nuggets to overtime, but his three-point attempt ended as a wedgie with the ball stuck between the glass and the rim.