Rudy Gobert Broke Out The Money Sign Towards The Refs So The NBA Dropped The Hammer And Fined Him $100,000

Jason Miller. Getty Images.

On Friday night, Rudy Gobert did not hold back when it came to sharing his thoughts over some questionable officiating during the Wolves/Cavs game

It's certainly not the first time we've heard Gobert touch on this subject, in fact he's been fined for it before. But when you're playing in a game being officiated by Scott Foster of all people, the NBA surely isn't going to take kindly to public actions like that.

"My reaction, which I think is truth — it's what I truly believe — even if it's the truth, it wasn't the time for me to react that way," Gobert said afterward. "I should have not done that. I cost my team the game, and obviously, they couldn't wait to give me a tech. That was bad. That was an immature reaction.”

Asked to clarify what he believes, Gobert said: "I made some mistakes. I airballed a dunk. Mistakes happen. Referees make mistakes, too. But sometimes I think it's more than mistakes. I think everyone that's in this league knows. I think it's got to get better.”

Gobert wasn't done.

"I'll bite the bullet again," Gobert said, via the Associated Press. "I'll be the bad guy. I'll take the fine, but I think it's hurting our game. I know the betting and all that is becoming bigger and bigger, but it shouldn't feel that way.

As we learned yesterday, the NBA didn't love it and certainly made that known

100K isn't exactly chump change, even for a max player like Gobert. The thing is, when one of the refs involved in this situation is the SAME REF who was right smack in the middle of the NBA's refereeing betting scandal, you can understand why this was such a big deal. 

No matter how much the NBA wants to ignore it, they have an officiating problem. When fanbases wake up and see that Scott Foster or Tony Brothers or Zach Zarba is calling their games and everyone knows what that means….that's not good. I'm not saying they're fixing games for cash, but we have certainly not moved past the whole Tim Donaghy fiasco. Is what Gobert is suggesting all that crazy to imagine? I don't think so, and that's kind of the point. We as fans shouldn't even know the names of the refs let alone have ideas that they are fixing games. 

Dropping a $100K fine was really their only option, but the optics on it sure aren't great. 

Advertisement

If we can't trust that the games are being officiated fairly, or at least without blatant fixing, then the whole product is cooked. Especially when you have already dealt with this exact situation that resulted in an entire scandal. It's still crazy we're just expected to believe Scott Foster did nothing wrong during that whole thing, which is why actions like Gobert taking place in a game being officiated by Scott Foster matter. 

With this now back in the spotlight, just play it out. What do we think is going to happen if Scott Foster makes a controversial call in a playoff game? Or a Finals game? I mean we all already think something is up with him and others already, but now we have players coming out and suggesting the same thing. No wonder Adam Silver dropped the hammer, but fining the players isn't really addressing the issue in my opinion.

The real solution won't come until Silver solves his officiating problem. It's a disaster right now and I'm not only talking about what Gobert is suggesting. We're seeing soft techs and insane ejections to the point where you can't even dunk the ball and show emotion anymore

They gave Brandon Boston a tech for how he celebrated that play! All he did was scream, you know, after a big play. To me, that's way more offensive than whatever Gobert was complaining about and it shows exactly what is wrong with the NBA in 2024.