Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Billy Donovan Fined $15,000 for Critical Comments of Officiating

Russell Westbrook, Paul George and coach Billy Donovan were each fined $15,000 on Wednesday for critical comments of officiating after the Oklahoma City Thunder’s loss Sunday to the Portland Trail Blazers.

After Carmelo Anthony was controversially ejected for a flagrant foul 2 in third quarter — a call the league upheld after further review — Westbrook, Donovan and George all gave thoughts about that play, as well as a play moments before that was not reviewed after Westbrook was caught in the face.

“I just think they don’t referee the same way all the time,” Westbrook added. “They pick and choose when they want to do it, which is not fair, in my opinion. I’ve been in this league for a while, and I’m able to see it and understand it and see what’s right or what’s wrong, but I can see it’s blatant, s— that’s not getting looked at, in my opinion. Get hit, you need to look at it. You look at everything else, you need to take a look at it.”

During the third quarter against Portland, Anthony attacked the basket and collided with Nurkic midair, double-clutching a layup attempt. Anthony caught Nurkic with an elbow to the face, before finishing an and-1. After review, the and-1 was wiped out and Anthony was assessed a flagrant 2, resulting in an ejection.

The league said on Wednesday the play remains a flagrant 2.

Donovan didn’t directly criticize the officials about Anthony’s ejection, saying only that he had never seen a player thrown out for an and-1, but he was fined for answering a question about Westbrook’s free throw struggles by pointing out an overall free throw discrepancy on the season.

Source: Royce Young of ESPN