Jason Kidd suspended for one game after slapping the ball out of a ref’s hands
In the modern NBA, it appears as taking the referee’s basketball is worse than actually bumping the referee’s body. That’s what we’re left with, I suppose.
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Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd was expectedly suspended on Friday for knocking the ball out of (oft-criticized) referee Zach Zarba’s hands on Wednesday evening, and he’ll miss Friday’s Bucks contest against the Orlando Magic as a result. Assistant Joe Prunty will likely run the team in his absence.
If you missed it, here is the video:
Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd has been suspended one game without pay for aggressively pursuing and confronting a game official, slapping the ball out of his hands, and not leaving the court in a timely manner upon his ejection, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
The incident, for which Kidd was assessed a technical foul and ejected, occurred with 1:49 remaining in the fourth quarter of Milwaukee’s 129-118 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at BMO Harris Bradley Center.
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The “incident,” somewhat hilariously, came on the two-year anniversary of the night Kidd (then working as Brooklyn Nets coach) asked Net swingman Tyshawn Taylor to knock a drink out of his hands in order to secure a brief timeout late in a Brooklyn loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The crack from the top of this post is in reference to the recent $25,000 fine (or, half of what the NBA fined Kidd for, two years ago, for spilling his pop) that the NBA handed Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer for what the league determined to be “incidental” contact with referee Ben Taylor.
A referee union rep sharply criticized the league for not suspended Budenholzer. Dumb jokes aside, even if the contact was incidental, it’s hard to see how Kidd’s swipe of the ball is any worse than actual contact made between a coach and referee.
Kidd’s history, clearly, had to play a part. Apparently dropping a cup of Diet Coke on purpose goes on your permanent record, now. Take notice, Moms of America.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
