At least justice has been served professionally and correctly as Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul has been fined but for the right reasons.
CP3 FINED $25,000 FOR REFEREE REMARKS
Clippers point guard Chris Paul has been fined $25,000 for criticising referee Lauren Holtkamp because of her officiating – NOT her gender.
Via ESPN:
“Some of [the technical fouls] were ridiculous,” Paul said. “The tech that I get right there was ridiculous. I don’t care what nobody says, I don’t care what she says; that’s terrible. There’s no way that can be a tech. We try to get the ball out fast every time down the court, and when we did that, she said, ‘Uh-uh.’ I said, ‘Why, uh-uh?’ And she gave me a tech.
“That’s ridiculous. If that’s the case, this might not be for her.”
The comments sparked debate over whether Paul was being disrespectful of Holtkamp based on her gender, prompting a rebuke Friday from the NBA referees union.
But a source close to the process told ESPN’s Marc Stein that the NBA, after its review, does not regard Paul’s comments to be gender-based and issued the fine based on his public criticism.
Paul attempted to clarify his intentions Friday, repeatedly saying that it “was about a bad call.”
JCROSSOVER WAS BORN TO DO THIS
In a recent interview with ESPN’s legendary basketball writer Scoop Jackson, Clippers guard Jamal Crawford as said that basketball was all he’s ever wanted to do.
For him, there was no other career choice.
Via ESPN:
Scoop: Yeah, maybe. But I don’t put him in you all’s category because I can imagine him doing something else. Maybe it’s me, but I can’t imagine you doing anything else.
Crawford: Yeah, naw, naw, naw. I was born to play basketball. There’s no question about it. That’s it. And I’m saying this in my humblest opinion, I do feel that I was born to play this game. I breathe it, I live it. Like [Wednesday], I went to the Knicks game. Just to watch. In person. What guy in his 15th year in the league is still doing that?
I watch League Pass every second. I’m on HoopsHype, I’m on ESPN, I can tell you about whosever’s game you want to know about. Because I breathe it. I loved basketball before I loved anything else. Before I had kids or a wife or friends, it was just me and my basketball. Two years old. I remember when I was 8 years old when I first started playing organized basketball, and the coaches had the kids in single file doing two-line layups and they were struggling to get the ball up there. Me, I’m doing reverse cradle layups with the backhand spins on it, like, jump from the right side and lay it up on the left side backwards. And the kids and coaches are looking at me like, “Who are you?” It was a weird thing. But I got it though, I understood it early.
Scoop: See, prodigy. So you’ve never thought of yourself ever doing anything else in your life?
Crawford: No. Never. Nothing else. Even when I retire in 10 years or whatever, I’ll still be playing at an LA Fitness somewhere.
GEORGE KARL TO THE KINGS?
The Kings are in “intense conversations” with George Karl about their head coaching position, according to the Sacramento Bee. The Kings have lost 10 of their last 11 games and are said to have accelerated their search for a permanent head coach.
Via ESPN:
The Kings are engaged in intense conversations with George Karl about their head coaching position, multiple sources have told The Bee.
Assistant Tyrone Corbin replaced Michael Malone on Dec. 14 after the Kings faltered to a 2-8 record during DeMarcus Cousins’ absence due to viral meningitis. The plan was to have Corbin complete the season, conduct an extensive coaching search, and give the incoming coach the benefit of an entire offseason and training camp.
Besides Karl, an ESPN analyst who is known for dramatically improving franchises, particularly in Denver, Seattle and Milwaukee, the list of future candidates is known to include current NBA assistants Alvin Gentry and Nate McMillan, along with head coaches whose job security is thought to be tenuous, among them Tom Thibodeau and Scott Brooks.
But the Kings’ ongoing slump – and jarring absence of competitiveness – has prompted principal owner Vivek Ranadive and his front office, headed by general manager Pete D’Alessandro, to move more quickly. The situation was exacerbated Thursday by a blowout loss to the visiting Dallas Mavericks on a night that was intended to celebrate former Kings star Mitch Richmond and was attended by Hall of Fame center Bill Russell.
