The Los Angeles Clippers received five technical fouls Thursday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Clippers star Chris Paul, who received one technical, called out first-year NBA official Lauren Holtkamp after the game and was later blasted by the referees' union for the "personal and unprofessional" comments.
Los Angeles lost to Cleveland, but the final score - 105-94 - doesn't tell the whole story. It was a blowout for most of the game, with the Clippers being down by as many as 32 points in the third quarter. Tempers flared for Los Angeles, and by the final whistle they had accumulated five technical fouls and one ejection.
After the game, Paul wasn't shy about criticizing the technical foul he received from Holtkamp with 10:17 left in the third.
"I think we have to show better composure, but at the same time some of [the technical fouls] were ridiculous," said Paul, who is president of the NBA Players Association, via ESPN. "The tech that I get right there was ridiculous. I don't care what nobody says, I don't care what she says; that's terrible. There's no way that can be a tech. We try to get the ball out fast every time down the court, and when we did that, she said, 'Uh-uh.' I said, 'Why, uh-uh?' And she gave me a tech.
"That's ridiculous. If that's the case, this might not be for her."
Paul, as well as other Clippers, were emphatic in their post-game interviews that they had nothing against Holtkamp's gender. Nonetheless, the referees' union quickly came to her defense and deemed her calls from Thursday night "fully justified."
"(The union) deplores the personal and unprofessional comments made by Chris Paul. She belongs," the union said in a statement obtained by ESPN.
ESPN reported the league would look Paul's comments, as per protocol when any player or coach makes critical comments regarding the officiating of a game.
The other four technical were assessed to coach Doc Rivers, center DeAndre Jordan and forward Matt Barnes, who received two and was subsequently ejected from the game.
"It's bulls---, it keeps happening," said Barnes, who is tied for first in the league this season with 11 technical fouls. "Some of these I earn and some of them I don't, but it's crazy to get a technical foul for pulling your arm away and a technical foul for saying, 'Just don't give them the game.' If you can't play with emotion, I don't see how you can play.
"I guess it's a reputation we've earned, and it's upon us to do a better job of trying to control our emotions, but you can't play the game at this level without emotion and without talking. It's tough but the refs had nothing to do with the way we came out and performed tonight."
Jordan's technical, which looked questionable, came after Holtkamp felt he screamed at her, and it was Rivers who got the T-party going with one in the first quarter.
"I got one early just trying to get our guys going," he said. "I would have liked to have gotten two at that point. That would have been terrific."
All five of the Clippers' technical fouls from Thursday didn't come from Holtkamp, who's in her first full season as an NBA official. Thursday wasn't the first time Los Angeles was displeased with Holtkamp calls, either - they also had issues with her earlier in the season in a game against the Miami Heat.
Los Angeles (33-17) visits the Toronto Raptors on Friday, the sixth of their eight-game road trip.
