Kofi Inkoom
The Dallas Mavericks had a rough start to their conference semi-finals, facing the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Arena and suffering a 117-95 loss. Point guard for the Mavs’, Kyrie Irving, appeared discontent after the game.
Expressing frustration with the officiating during a post-game interview (Video Link), Irving highlighted how multiple foul calls disrupted the game’s flow as reported by Mavericks writer, Noah Webber.
“I’m gonna show my respect to Shai first, he’s a great player but tonight in the first half there wasn’t really a rhythm for a lot of players out there. There was a lot of slowdown, watch free throws be taken, and adjust to the way the game was being called. It like the game was being called like a regular season game tonight.” Irving said.
Kyrie Irving on yesterday’s game 1 recurrent foul calls.
“It like the game was being called like a regular season game tonight…”pic.twitter.com/XOrWf76SDN
— NBArepublic.com (@nba_republic) May 8, 2024
Later, Irving referenced the physicality of their Round 1 series against the Clippers to contextualize his comments, stating;
“We come off a very physical series against LA Clippers and then we have some of these fouls that are called and some of them may be fouls right or majority of them but I think when you’re out there as a competitor and you just want the flow of the game to feel like the playoffs and the physicality is up there, you know it just feels a lot better but again it’s all about adjustments…We’re gonna give them credit but we have to come in game two ready and prepared.”
While Irving acknowledged some calls, he criticized the officiating crew’s consistency and called for a playoff-standard refereeing. His remarks might lead to consequences given the NBA’s strict policy on public criticism of referees.
Is Kyrie Risking a Fine ?
Considering Irving’s history with fines, the situation looks challenging. In 2018, he was fined $25,000 for throwing the ball into the stands after a loss against the Nuggets.
A year later, despite criticism after a loss against the Bucks, he avoided a fine, possibly by acknowledging the difficulty of the referees’ job. Though Irving has faced over 15 fines for various violations, notably, few were for criticizing officiating.