Nigerian ex-international, Ime Udoka, who now coaches Houston Rockets in USA’s National Basketball Association (NBA), has been hit with a fine of $25,000 for mocking match officials.
Sports247 gathered that Udoka fell foul of the regulations during his team’s overtime loss to Denver Nuggets, which he tagged ‘the most poorly officiated game in a long time.’
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Independent reports indicated that it was a stormy game, as officials issued a large number of technical fouls, with Udoka earning one after arguing over a call in the second quarter.
Udoka also took issue with a tripping call that allowed Denver tie the game with just seconds to go in the fourth quarter, which led to a 128-125 loss for The Rockets.
The Nigerian ex-international challenged the call, which was overuled, and the play allowed Jamal Murray to hit a game-tying free throw, sending the contest into overtime.
Although foul distribution was even between both teams, Udoka was not happy with the way officials treated Nikola Jokić and Murray, who both had big performances against his side.
A report by Sports Yahoo added that, although Udoka did not name the errant officials, he took aim at each of them, and said: “Two have no business being out there and the crew chief was acting star struck.”
Dramatically, Udoka was hit with the fine though the NBA agreed in their review of the game that there had been three incorrect calls in the last two minutes of overtime, all that favored The Nuggets.
The NBA’s Last Two Minute Report agreed that fouls on Kevin Durant and Amen Thompson shouldn’t have been called, while one against Nuggets’ guard, Tim Hardaway Jr. should have been called.
Despite the NBA’s acceptance of errors in the calls by match officials, the result stands and Udoka has to pay the fine for his unsportsmanly comments.
