NBA fines Kings guard Buddy Hield $20,000 for inappropriate language toward officials
The Kings were frustrated by the officiating in Saturday’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and apparently Buddy Hield had something to say about it.
NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Kiki VanDeWeghe announced Monday that Hield has been fined $20,000 for directing inappropriate language toward officials. The incident occurred following the conclusion of a 129-128 loss to the Bucks at Golden 1 Center.
What prompted Hield’s outburst is unknown, but the Kings were clearly upset following one particular sequence that occurred in front of their bench late in the fourth quarter. Sacramento trailed 126-123 following a driving layup by De’Aaron Fox when the Kings trapped Bucks forward Khris Middleton in the corner on the ensuing inbounds play.
Middleton was granted a timeout, but Kings coach Luke Walton thought he should have been called for traveling. The Kings also felt Middleton called the timeout while falling out of bounds, which is not permitted under NBA rules.
“To me it looked like he had traveled,” Walton said. “It looked like he had slid his foot and then it looked like he had lost his balance falling out of bounds, which, to my understanding, you’re not allowed to call a timeout.
“(Officials) told me that he had one foot anchored down and with one foot down you can call a timeout. I disagreed. I thought that foot was moving, so I haven’t seen the replay of it yet, but to me it looked like the pivot foot had slid as he was calling a timeout.”
The NBA determined officials made the correct call when the Last 2 Minute Report was released Sunday. After reviewing the play, the league determined Middleton maintained a legal pivot foot before he called timeout.
