Fred VanVleet WENT OFF on the Refs in an Explicit Rant
After falling to the Los Angeles Clippers 108-100 on the road, Fred VanVleet held nothing back.
The Toronto Raptors point guard repeatedly cursed out the officiating during his postgame press conference, specifically calling out referee Ben Taylor.
“I mean, I don’t mind. I’ll take a fine. I don’t really care,” VanVleet said before he scorched the earth. “Ben Taylor was f**king terrible tonight. I thought that on most nights a couple out of the three there are one or two that just f**k the game up. It’s been like that a couple of games in a row. Denver was tough, obviously. Come out tonight, competing pretty hard, I get a bullsh*t tech. Change the whole dynamic of the game. Change the whole flow of the game. Most of the refs are trying hard. A lot of the refs are trying hard. They’re pretty fair. They communicate well. Then, you got the other ones that want to be dicks and it just kind of f**ks the game up. Nobody comes to see that sh*t.”
Fred VanVleet is just saying what we’ve all said a million times from our couch, but I’m still shocked he said it!
I can’t remember the last time a player attacked the officiating this aggressively after the game. Adam Silver is likely typing up a HEFTY fine as we speak.
Now, I can certainly understand where some of the frustration for VanVleet and the Raptors stems from, especially after they watched Scottie Barnes receive a confusing ejection at the end of a close game in Denver. But let’s also not forget about the Raptors’ fiery style of play. This is a team that likes to get in your face and establish a physical presence. More often than not, that’s going to lead to some foul calls. And they have to learn to live with that.
Anyway, you can watch VanVleet’s full response below and read a little bit more about what happened in the game over at The Athletic.
The Raptors are currently 9th in the Eastern Conference and just 1.5 games ahead of the Chicago Bulls.
