The NBA fined Minnesota center Rudy Gobert $100,000 on Sunday, two days after he said that referee Scott Foster was not calling games properly and that gambling was having a negative influence on game outcomes.
The fine is the maximum permitted by the NBA under the terms of last year’s collective bargaining agreement, and it matches the $100,000 fine imposed on then-Philadelphia player James Harden for his public trade demand last fall.
Gobert was fined for a technical foul in the last seconds of regulation Friday night in the Timberwolves’ 113-104 overtime defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers when he repeatedly rubbed his fingers together, making the so-called money sign toward Foster.
After that game, Gobert said, “I’ll bite the bullet again. 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.”
The NBA stated that it found Gobert directed “an inappropriate and unprofessional gesture toward a game official, and publicly (criticized) the officiating.”
In announcing the punishment, NBA executive vice president for basketball operations Joe Dumars stated that it “takes into account Gobert’s past instances of conduct detrimental to the NBA with regard to publicly criticizing the officiating.”
