Chris Paul may find himself in some hot water Friday, but for a totally different reason than the one you're probably expecting.
After getting a technical foul from referee Lauren Holtkamp on Thursday night, Paul was not pleased.
"There's no way that can be a technical," said Paul after the game. "We try to get the ball out fast every time down the court. When we did that, she said, 'Uh-uh, no.' I said, 'Why uh-uh?' And she gave me a technical. That's ridiculous. If that's the case, this might not be for her."
Some among us are stirring up an issue, perceiving Paul's use of the word "her" as sexist. Holtkamp is just one of two females referees in the NBA this season.
Let's dismiss this notion immediately. Holtkamp is a woman, thus Paul's use of the female pronoun, "her." How can it be sexist if Paul is using that describer for a woman? What would the outrage level be if he said "him"?
Paul's point seemed to be more about Holtkamp's rookie status in the league than her gender. The beginning of his quote indicated displeasure about the ridiculous nature of the technical foul or at least Paul's perceived ridiculous nature of the technical foul.
There's no feminist cause here and, despite my male status, I feel confident saying so. There are plenty of worthwhile causes involving discrimination against women, but assigning the correct pronoun to Holtkamp's gender is not one of them.
Paul is going to get fined, but before the males among us deride the league for doing so, know why before your cotton Dockers get in a twist. A player can not publicly criticize an official, male or female. That's why Paul will become poorer. It's important everyone knows that before spouting ignorance like, "He didn't do anything wrong."
The Clippers were whistled for five technical fouls in Thursday's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, which was much more of a rout than the final score of 105-94.
Paul got one, DeAndre Jordan got one, head coach Doc Rivers got one and Matt Barnes was the winner with two. He got ejected and didn't like the calls against him, either.
A quick scan of the NBA leaders in technical fouls shows Barnes vaulted into a tie for first with 11. Blake Griffin is fourth with nine and Jordan is tied for fifth with seven. Paul has four now. Rivers even moved into the top 10 among coaches
They lead the league as a team with 58 T's and that's five more than anyone else.
There's clearly an issue with temperament in LA.
Paul and Griffin are complainers. Show me a superstar who isn't. Barnes is a supreme agitator prone to techs. They have a reputation and it's earned. All 58 of those technicals weren't bad calls.
Here's the biggest problem for the Clippers - this problem won't go away anytime soon. Paul and Barnes publicly criticized a member of the fraternity. That won't be forgotten by the men and women in gray uniforms. And, yes, the referees are displeased.
"The NBRA has carefully reviewed the calls made by Lauren Holtkamp and deems them fully justified," National Basketball Referees Association General Counsel Lee Seham said in a statement.
"Furthermore, the NBRA deplores the personal and unprofessional comments made by Chris Paul. She belongs."
Good luck getting a marginal call now, CP3.
The Clippers need to be more disciplined. There is an subconscious entitlement structure within the officials' collective minds that gives preferential treatment to the stars. Paul and Griffin earned that. The rest of the group has earned nothing from the officials. They aren't All-Stars, the Clippers aren't a championship organization.
Falling apart to the tune of five technical fouls when you're getting your brains beaten in on the court is not mature nor impressive. Complaining about it to the media following is also not professional and won't stop the refs from blowing their whistles.
"It's upon us to do a better job at trying to control our emotions," Barnes said. "But you can't play this game at this level without emotion and without talking and without just being able to play. It's tough."
It is upon them.
The Clippers have to do a better job with containing their emotions, Paul included. Just don't brand him a sexist for correct use of the English language.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
- It was time to go for Jacque Vaughn. There was no improvement from his two- plus seasons. Orlando's roster is not perfect, but there is impressive young talent. Victor Oladipo, Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton, Nikola Vucevic and Tobias Harris comprise a great start. They need the big dog in the yard. None of those players represent such. That's not Vaughn's fault, but every season his roster improved and his record hasn't.
- Brian Shaw, the next hottest seat in the show.
- I wouldn't add to the All-Star rosters. There's always going to be people left out. Adding more players won't change that. If NBA commissioner Adam Silver made the rosters 15, than everyone would complain about the 16th guy not making it. Also, it would be a huge burden on the coach allotting anything close to fair playing time with a larger roster.
- Silver's proposal of taking the six division winners, then the 10 best teams for the postseason, irrespective of conference, is interesting. If that format existed today, the New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder would be in, the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat would be out. It's not a terrible idea. I also don't think it's absolutely necessary. It's two more teams getting in, not the most revolutionary, sweeping change.
- I'd be very careful about bringing Paul George back if I was Larry Bird and the Indiana Pacers. If he's 100 percent, and mentally ready to come back (mental angle is huge with that kind of gruesome injury), then he should. If the Pacers believe George could assist in a playoff push, that's madness. The Pacers don't want to "tank" the season, especially because they're 3 1/2 games off the eighth seed and could be a tough out with George. However, adding a talented kid to the team's equation could be very tantalizing for the future.
- Movie moment - Finally, finally getting back into a movie theater soon. Couldn't be more excited to see ... "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water." What's he going to do out of water? I'm intrigued.
- TV moment - This Brian Williams story is going to end poorly for the NBC News anchor. Reports are surfacing, questioning the authenticity of anything he's ever said. If it seems witch-huntish from Williams' enemies, or enemies of NBC News, it's not totally out of line for a newscaster to be completely forthright and honest in his or her information distribution. I like Williams, but honesty among newsmen is paramount.
[SportsNetwork.com]
