NBA fines Kings’ De’Aaron Fox $20,000 for criticizing officials following loss to Jazz
Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox figured there would be a price to pay for his profanity-laced tirade toward officials following a 128-112 loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday night at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.
NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Kiki VanDeWeghe revealed the price tag Monday, announcing Fox has been fined $20,000 for public criticism of officials.
Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell intervened as Fox barked at officials at the conclusion of Saturday’s game. Fox continued to voice his displeasure in a postgame news conference, saying the officiating was “godawful” and “f---ing terrible.”
Fox and Kings coach Luke Walton both expressed frustration after the Jazz went to the free-throw line 35 times. Mitchell attempted a career-high 17 free throws, nearly as many as the Kings, who had 22 free-throw attempts. Fox only went to the line six times despite his repeated forays into the paint to attack the heart of Utah’s defense.
“S--- was godawful,” Fox said. “Mine wasn’t even about me getting there and things like that. It was about the calls they were getting on the other end. If you’re going to call something on one end, call it on the other end.
“And if somebody’s trying to talk to you, you can’t get in your feelings so quick to where it’s not even a hostile conversation and then you’re saying don’t talk to you. … I mean, you’re coming down guessing on plays where a ball goes out of bounds and they ask you. You don’t know what the f--- is going on and you just call something. At least go look at the monitor or something.”
Fox was especially frustrated with one official who he described as unapproachable.
“F---ing terrible,” Fox said. “He was terrible and then when you tried to talk to him he acted like he didn’t want to hear anything or he was too good.”
Mitchell said he was trying to prevent Fox from getting fined when he stepped between him and the officials following the game.
“He was talking to the ref, but the game was over and Fox has been a friend of mine since high school,” Mitchell said. “There’s no reason to lose money over a situation like that. The game’s over, the competition’s over, so now that’s my guy. I’m going to make sure he doesn’t lose money in that situation.”
Fox appreciated the thought from Mitchell, but he was still anticipating a fine.
“The way the NBA works, I’m probably going to get fined anyways for talking to a ref and that is what it is,” Fox said. “But Don and I are cool off the court, obviously, and between the lines we’re competitors going after each other, but, yeah, it’s definitely great to have somebody like that. It’s always great when I’m able to play against someone I’ve known since high school and see how well he’s doing and what he’s doing for his team. As soon as the game is over, the competition is over and we’re back to being boys.”
Walton shared Fox’s frustration with the officiating. The Kings had a 48-42 advantage in points in the paint, but they attempted 13 fewer free throws. Walton said the disparity in free throws between Fox and Mitchell “doesn’t make much sense to me.”
“That’s part of the frustration,” Walton said. “De’Aaron Fox is playing the same way, right? It’s not like Donovan is just attacking the rim. He shot 12 3s, right? So he’s shooting a lot of jump shots, too. As a team, they shot 50 3s and got 35 free throws, and we got 22 free throws. And if you tell me that Donovan attacks the rim any harder than De’Aaron Fox, I will strongly disagree with you.”
This story was originally published April 12, 2021 at 9:05 AM.
