Chris Finch reacted to Rudy Gobert being fined $75,000 for making a money sign at the referees in Game 4 of the Nuggets vs. Wolves series. Finch was not happy at the price of the fine, especially because Jamal Murray was fined $100,000 for making the same gesture in Game 2 while throwing towels and heating pads on the court.
“I’d like to see the itemized receipt. Because if it’s $75,000 for the money gesture then it must be $10,000 for the towel and $15,000 for the heating pad?”
The $25,000 difference in the fines does seem significant, but Finch wanting an itemized list is hilarious. This is actually Gobert’s second fine for being outspoken against the officials this season, already being fined $100,000 for a similar instance earlier in the season.
The fact that the second fine was smaller than the first one shows that the league was trying not to be punitively harsh on Gobert, as they’re within their rights to increase the fine amount as a repeated offender. Finch is still upset because everyone knows they thought Murray’s actions in Game 2 warranted a suspension and not a fine.
The maximum fine that the NBA is allowed to levy against a player is $150,000, but that’s for extreme cases. Maybe Murray could have been fined that because he avoided a suspension for the multiple potentially dangerous incidents he caused, but Gobert’s fine seems lopsided when compared to Murray’s.
There was no way Gobert was going unpunished for his actions, so the Wolves should just be happy it’s smaller than the last fine Gobert received.
Adam Silver Was Accused Of Prioritizing Ratings Over Safety For Jamal Murray
The frustrations around Jamal Murray not being punished for his juvenile behavior in Game 2 were felt league-wide. An anonymous league executive accused NBA Commissioner Adam Silver of prioritizing ratings by not suspending Murray for at least one game.
“We all know what’s going on here. And it’s a bad look. This was about protecting the TV audience for the next game — or games.”
Even hip-hop superstar Snoop Dogg criticized the NBA with very strong reasoning behind why the league was being hypocritical by protecting Murray.
“This Murray thing that right there threw me for a loop. I got to bring it up because Patrick Beverly threw a basketball they gave him four games. He throw a towel then he throw the other thing which could have caused injury. Come on man you got to give him one game. $100,000 don’t mean anything to a man that’s making 50 million… These rules been here for a long time you can’t throw anything on the court… You’re supposed to get suspended, ejected one of the two it has nothing to do with the game, what type of game, if it’s the Finals if it’s the last game.”
The Nuggets rebounded in the series with wins in Games 3 and 4 to tie the series up after falling behind 0-2. Game 5 is looking to be in their favor right now, with the Nuggets holding a lead heading into the fourth quarter.
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