The NBA Coaches Association struck back with harsh words in response to a statement from the referees union calling for Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer to be suspended for bumping an official during a game last weekend.
Budenholzer was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Monday for the incident which occurred in the second quarter of the Hawks loss at the Cavaliers on Saturday. The coach received a technical foul and was immediately ejected after he bumped official Ben Taylor while arguing a non-call of a perceived foul on Hawks player Justin Holiday. In issuing its fine the NBA ruled the contact to be “incidental.”
A statement from Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, president of the coaches association emailed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday read: “The NBA Coaches Association greatly values our working relationship with the league office and our officials. For the record, our association would NEVER lobby for the suspension of an official for a situation like this one that has been thoroughly reviewed by the NBA and clearly determined to be incidental in nature. We view the unwarranted and reckless verbal attacks by Referee Union general counsel as grandstanding in nature, and beneath the dignity of the highly regarded group whose interests he claims to represent. The best interests of our great league lie far above what appears to be an obvious cheap and misguided attempt for a blast of short-term Twitter fame.”
The National Basketball Referees Association issued its statement Monday night saying Budenholzer should have been suspended. The end of the statement read: “Coaches should compete by creating better teams, not by physically intimidating officials.”
Budenhholzer issued a statement of his own late Monday night after he reached out to Taylor and apologized. His statement, in part, read: “We all understand that any contact - including incidental contact - with an official is unacceptable. I accept the NBA’s fine and look forward to putting this situation in the past.”
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