Nate Fined 25 Gs

by Ben Golliver on Apr 28, 2009 4:58 PM PDT

As reported by Joe Freeman, Nate McMillan was fined 25,000 dollars for his comments yesterday regarding the officiating in this series.

Refresh this post around game time to read any comments Nate makes pregame in response to the fine. I imagine he will be tight-lipped.

UPDATED 6:00PM

Nate just told reporters, "I should have just taken my mother's advice, 'shut your mouth and do your job.' I thought of [those words] immediately [when I found out I was fined.]"

Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune then asked, "But you were trying to make a point, right?" Nate smiled and said simply "Ker-ryyyyyy" as if he was going through puberty. Everyone laughed.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

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How can

Adelman not be fined until now? If what he said deserved a fine, shouldn’t it have been levied then? He definitely got his money out of his fine, Adelman’s complaints were heard before two home games, and only now he gets fined? Good grief!

by morg on Apr 28, 2009 5:00 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

It's a make-up fine for Adelman.

They wanted to fine Nate, but couldn’t do it without fining Adelman.

It's spelled "PRZYBILLA."
vanillathrillagorillaprzybilla

by RenoBlazerFan on Apr 28, 2009 5:15 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Agreed. Ridiculous.

If the NBA isn’t operating on the weekend, when I believe Adelman made his comment, then he should have been fined on Monday. They wanted to fine McMillan, so they had to fine Adelman also. Another make up call by the NBA after the damage is done.

by KitIsh on Apr 28, 2009 5:19 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

They were going to overlook Adelman, but when it looked like his tactic worked without consequence, Nate chimed it. And the league thumped them both for it...

Pontiff of the Pryz for Prez Posse...

by timbo on Apr 28, 2009 5:38 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

That's basically my assumption too.

It’s really sad if true.

by Timmay! on Apr 28, 2009 5:38 PM PDT up reply actions

Not to mention the TEAM got a 25,000 fine, but no mention of the Rockets getting a team fine as well

But I’d say it was money well spent to not have to lose the series in front of our home crowd

Blazers win!

by The X-man on Apr 29, 2009 3:01 PM PDT up reply actions

This is getting ridiculous...

and by that, of course, I mean the Stern Regime. FIRE DAVID STERN!!!

Don't believe the hype.

by Artie Fufkin on Apr 28, 2009 5:02 PM PDT reply actions 3 recs

Ive been saying that for 20 years about Stern

I have to rec your sentiments

I try to help with everything," Fernandez said. "If the coach says go rebound, I go rebound. I work for the team.

""If I'm playing this game to get media and attention, I shouldn't be here," Aldridge said. "I'm here to play basketball, and do what I can do to help this team win."

His stare became blank. It was apparent he was back in that place, on the Rose Garden's logo, picking up Aaron Brooks as the crowd nervously roared.

by Dragonage on Apr 28, 2009 5:12 PM PDT reply actions

Thank You Nate

Took one for the team. His players will respond.

"The brownies,'' Fernandez said after the game. "The brownies are good for me to make three-points.''

by Sabonis4Ever on Apr 28, 2009 5:16 PM PDT reply actions

this is literally true. I'm proud of him.

Diet. Dr. Pepper.

by TheTinfoil on Apr 28, 2009 5:19 PM PDT up reply actions

I kinda wish he'd have taken one for the team after Game 2 or 3.

by Timmay! on Apr 28, 2009 5:39 PM PDT up reply actions

Absolutley Ridiculous...

David Stern is a complete douche who has never run anything in the NBA fairly. I applaud Nate for saying what he said because what he said needed to be said. Also I bet that Paul Allen is gonna pay the fine the for Nate.

Red Hot and Rolling

by BlazerFan88 on Apr 28, 2009 5:18 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

Donate now

by chuky on Apr 28, 2009 5:23 PM PDT reply actions 9 recs

Rec

It's spelled "PRZYBILLA."
vanillathrillagorillaprzybilla

by RenoBlazerFan on Apr 28, 2009 5:34 PM PDT up reply actions

seriously, we need to take up an offering for the man

Goodbye Deke. The NBA will miss Mt. Mutombo.

by prezofdeath on Apr 28, 2009 5:45 PM PDT up reply actions

have the ushers walk up and down the aisles of the RG

asking for donations like in church.

I bet you could raise >10,000 dollars

by cloudydays on Apr 28, 2009 5:49 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

It's ok.

Nate rarely gets fined, and honestly he’s one of the coaches who can most afford it.

Besides, doesn’t the yearly fine total go to charity anyway? I wonder if he gets to write it off.

by Timmay! on Apr 28, 2009 5:55 PM PDT up reply actions

I've often wondered about the writeoff

The CPAs I’ve asked think probably not, but none of them worked for a sports team.

by Corvid on Apr 28, 2009 6:55 PM PDT up reply actions

Hey! I clicked on the donate button and it doesn't work!

Can I just give you my Visa number?

by Corvid on Apr 28, 2009 6:53 PM PDT up reply actions

sometimes I really hate the NBA

the fine is ridiculous. did he really say anything THAT outrageous to deserve to have to pay the NBA 25 large?

by cloudydays on Apr 28, 2009 5:44 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

Agreed

That’s a huge sum. I can’t stand how authoritarian the NBA comes off. And that’s what they are. Because this is the sort of thing you do when you believe you’re above reproach.

by Stryder9 on Apr 28, 2009 5:50 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

If you want to see a huge sum, take a look for Cuban's total fines since becoming an owner.

That’s a man who has no fear of saying what’s on his mind.

by Timmay! on Apr 28, 2009 5:54 PM PDT up reply actions

and i cant blame him, really

if i had that much money i would bitch and moan about all of the nba’s problems lol

by cloudydays on Apr 28, 2009 5:59 PM PDT up reply actions

Also reported in sidebar fanshots earlier

Both in threads and in a post by thomasikehara.

Rivers was also fined. When did he complain?

by staylost on Apr 28, 2009 5:58 PM PDT reply actions

the evidence of this has been removed by the nba for our protection...

by Tyler Durrden on Apr 28, 2009 6:23 PM PDT up reply actions

by Griff on Apr 28, 2009 6:26 PM PDT reply actions

I am shocked.

I’m pretty sure Nate’s comment was as passive and gentle as could possibly be. All he said was “I think it should be called evenly at both ends” or something along the lines of that. Something fishy’s going on here.

by thetsaiguy on Apr 28, 2009 6:36 PM PDT reply actions

Soooo when exactly did adelman/doc rivers complain?

why did they wait to fine them? they certainly didn’t have a “grace period” for nate. And I don’t think they would for someone like Cuban either. Nate makes the least offensible comments when he has the biggest case and he is fined. You gotta believe they fined adelman/rivers just because they were gonna fine nate.

at least they called that both ways.

Please, for the love of all that is holy, please stop using the following: "Book it.", "FTW", "Epic" & "Fail".

...no seriously--stop.

by nima on Apr 28, 2009 6:36 PM PDT reply actions

When the winning coach criticized the officiating

Then, you know something is wrong.

FIRE DAVID STERN!!!

by david1978pdx on Apr 28, 2009 8:14 PM PDT reply actions

anyone know what the viewership in china is?

or how much the nba makes off broadcasting and advertising the playoffs in china?

by riccc_l on Apr 29, 2009 12:04 AM PDT reply actions

Aside from the specifics...

First let me get this out of the way. Yes, I’m glad Nate spoke up. Now for what really bothers me. Where does the league get off fining any coaches for comments about the officiating? In the days following the Donaghy scandal there were great grandious statements made by The N.B.A. and David Stern about the quality of N.B.A. officiating. Promises that safeguards, review processes and open transparency in operations were all maintained. Yet what we see, when a coach, more than just one coach makes any perceivably negative comments about N.B.A. officiating the league reacts like a Bully that’s in a staring match. It’s “Don’t say anything negative about our officiating or we are going to fine you BIG”. To me that is an arrogant, short sighted reaction, not the reaction of a confident league. Strong arming your leagues coaches into quiet submission through huge fines for simply speaking their minds is not the tactic of a pro-active, open and transparent operation. I’m afraid it’s the symptom of a bigger illness. It makes the league look bad.

Look at the converse, instead of publicly fining your leagues coaches how about not reacting to public media comments about officiating. In the heat of a playoff series, in the course of a season, in the moments following a tough loss in a press conference, simply let coaches say whatever they want. If your confident in your system, if you really have safeguards and legitimate review and complaint processes in place then what do you care what a coach says about the officiating in a game? Let it go. To an extent since for most N.B.A. coaches their very jobs and reputations hinge on winning, does anyone have more of right to complain about officiating? Why the big fines? Why the insecurity? Yes, fans get emotional, coaches get emotional, game to game fans can become far to wrapped up in the moment. But I have faith in the general intelligence of most people. I think if you have a coach that is blaming officiating unfairly, or after every single loss, pretty quickly people will figure out that coach doesn’t know what he is talking about. A chronic complainer without grounds will be naturally dismissed. An occasional comment, or complaint? That’s different. Instead of fining every coach that complains shouldn’t the league be investigating WHY these coaches are complaining? Some of the local media admonished Blazer fans for chanting “These Refs Suck” in game #1, well maybe Blazer Fans were just ahead of the curve. What’s Sterns next move? Fine entire stadiums of fans for chanting negative comments?

I honestly believe most ref’s are trying. I don’t believe in huge conspiracy theories of massive outcome manipulation. But the very fact that so many people are questioning the quality of officiating in the N.B.A. is in of itself indicative of a problem. The Answer isn’t to strong arm coaches and others into silence by levying huge fines, The answer is to fix the entire officiating system within the N.B.A. . The league embarrases itself by implementing such arrogant fines towards their own coaches.

"Mother Nature started this fight, I think it's about time we ended it!"

by Krang on Apr 29, 2009 1:40 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs