Following the Toronto Raptors’ loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, Fred VanVleet slammed referee Ben Taylor during his post-game interview for certain calls the point guard disagreed with.
“I thought Ben Taylor was f***ing terrible tonight,” VanVleet said. “[...] Third quarter I get a bullshit [technical foul], changes the whole dynamic of the game, changes the whole flow of the game.”
Fred VanVleet went OFF on referee Ben Taylor and NBA reffing in general in his post-game after the Raptors loss. Haven't heard anything like this.
”I think we’re losing a little bit of the fabric of what the NBA is and was and it’s been disappointing this season.
VanVleet also pointed out that most of his technical fouls came when Taylor officiated the game.
“At a certain point as a player, you feel it’s personal and it’s never a good place to be. That’s not why we lost tonight, we got outplayed, but it definitely makes it tougher to overcome,” VanVleet said.
Though VanVleet didn’t blame their loss on the referees, he did express disappointment in the referees’ inconsistent calls, referencing their loss to the Denver Nuggets earlier this week when referee Scott Foster ejected Scottie Barnes in the last minute of the game for something he said to Foster.
Though not included in the video above, VanVleet added that he feels like referees are on a power trip.
“[...] 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 and I’ll take my fine for speaking on it but [...] this is f***ing ridiculous.”
These are Fred VanVleet's full comments on the officiating tonight after Raptors loss to the Clippers. Just eviscerating. He will take a fine ... very big fine:
The Toronto Raptors play the Los Angeles Lakers next on Thursday. The Raps currently sit ninth in Eastern Conference standings.
