Chicago head coach Tom Thibodeau has been fined $35,000 for comments he made about the officiating in the wake of the Bulls’ 104-94 loss to Miami in an NBA playoff game on Friday.
NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson announced the sanction on Sunday.
The victory gave Miami a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference second-round series, with game four in Chicago on Monday.
“I see how things are going, I watch very closely,” Thibodeau said after Friday’s game. “We’re not going to get calls, that’s reality.”
Thibodeau was irked by the ejection of Bulls reserve Nazr Mohammed, who had played less than three minutes when he was tossed from the game in the second quarter for shoving Heat superstar LeBron James.
Mohammed had halted a James breakaway and was whistled for a foul.
As James pulled away from him Mohammed fell to the floor and James received a technical foul.
The intervention of the officials, however, didn’t placate Mohammed, who got up and shoved James, who fell to the floor.
“From my angle, I just saw a guy basically flop,” Thibodeau said of James’s fall. “I didn’t think it warranted an ejection. I understand flagrant foul, I understand that, but ejection, no.”
Thibodeau certainly can’t afford to lose any players as his team battles the reigning champion Heat.
The Bulls have played all season without former Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose as he rehabilitates a knee injury, and during these playoffs have seen Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich sidelined.
Bulls coach Thibodeau fined for comments on officiating
