The NBA handed Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker a hefty $35,000 penalty on Thursday for publicly blasting a referee’s work following his team’s playoff defeat, though the league also gave him some vindication in the process.
Officials announced they were overturning a technical foul assessed against Booker during the late stages of the third quarter, stating it had been “improperly assessed.”
The controversy stemmed from Phoenix’s 120-107 defeat to Oklahoma City on Wednesday night, which put the Suns in a 2-0 hole in their Western Conference quarterfinal matchup against the defending champions. Following that loss, Booker didn’t hold back when discussing the game’s officiating.
“It’s definitely something that has to be looked at,” Booker said postgame. “I heard (Oklahoma City’s Alex) Caruso tell them to call the tech, and he ended up doing it. In my 11 years, I haven’t called a ref out by name, but James (Williams) was terrible tonight.”
The veteran guard continued his criticism, stating, “Whatever I get fined for, everybody can pull the clips and see where the frustration comes from.”
The financial penalty came from NBA executive vice president and head of basketball operations James Jones. The league’s statement also responded to Booker’s accusations of bias, declaring, “Following an investigation including multiple interviews and video review, the league found no basis to any claim of bias or misconduct by game officials.”
Despite defending the officials’ conduct, the NBA acknowledged the technical foul against Booker should never have been called.
In Wednesday’s contest, Booker contributed 22 points and seven rebounds, following up his 23-point, six-rebound performance in the series opener. During the regular season, the guard averaged 26.1 points, 6.0 assists and 3.9 rebounds across 64 starts.
Throughout his 11-year NBA career, all spent in Phoenix, Booker has earned five All-Star selections. His career statistics include 24.6 points, 5.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game over 737 appearances, with 712 as a starter.
