Shaq Fined $35,000 For Criticizing Officials
Boston Celtics’ center Shaquillie O’Neal has been fined $35,000 for criticizing the officiating following the Christmas Day loss to the Magic. In his comments after the game, Shaq said,
“In 20 years of playing in the NBA,” he said, “I’ve paid over $90 million in federal tax, $40 million in FICA tax, and $1 million in David Stern tax.
They [the fans] paid all that money to watch No. 26 [referee Bob Delaney] play. If I was a fan, I would be upset. You pay all that money for good seats, you have two of the best guys in the league sitting on the bench out of the game. That is what happens when you have control freaks out there.”
Reaction:
Shaq does have a point. The game had a few bad calls and makeup calls. And it does seem that big men like Shaq automatically get some calls; all of that makes the game less fun to watch. If the refereeing was better, then bad and makeup calls wouldn’t exist, and the integrity of the game would be much improved. Then players and coaches get fined for having freedom of speech.
I agree with Tommy Heinsohn; call the game.
Tags: Celtics, Shaquille O'Neal
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The officiating in the NBA is generally horrible, and for David Stern to defend them to defend the league’s integrity is ridiculous.
Why can’t he focus on his refs like they do in the NFL, where they grade a referee’s performance and deal with them accordingly.
Probably because Roger Goodell wants to make a useless attempt to try and fool the masses into thinking he cares about integrity in the midst of his absolute power, and David Stern probably doesn’t think we’re people and thus don’t have emotions and feelings, like rocks or something.
They should be fined just like the players do ,then watch how fast they clean up their act