Mike Woodson fined $25,000 for criticizing officials

For a man that's about to lose his job, this is not a smart thing to do

 

Maybe that's a way to keep his job.

 

Can somebody please, if they have time, explain me how this is possible in a supposedly free country like the US? How can the NBA just make up their own rules and fine people for just stating their opinion? If that **** happened in Europe, court cases and lawsuits would be filed every single time and the NBA would lose that so fast, it would make your head spin!

 

Freedom of speech only applies to the government.

 

I have no problem with all these fines, they go to charities.

 

Is this serious or sarcasm?

 

They refs are horrible this season, & the NBA has become petty. The taunting techs, looking at the refs techs, delay of game techs, hanging on the rim techs...but a player gets mugged, slapped & scratched going for a shot, and no call? Or in the case of Harden, grabbed around the waist with two hands?

Lin gets hit, with no calls given to him, more than any other player I've ever seen, next is Howard & then Harden...that's league wide.

They nearly broke Howard's arms in Dallas, you could hear the slaps all the way down here in Sydney!

Refs hate the Rockets. Knicks just suck.

 

Most of Europe has no equivalent to the free speech/4th amendment guarantees that the US has. What Europe does have is much stronger labor laws that protects workers from the type of retaliation that the NBA does with its fines.

This isn't an issue about freedom of speech. This is an issue of labor law. Two entirely different things.

 

Show an inclination to criticize the refs in public, simply eat the fines and the refs become increasingly unlikely to screw your team (because it's in the back of their head that you will call them out publically), Phil Jackson used to do it all the time for just that reason. Of course you don't play the card all the time, but when you feel like it will matter let it rip. Teams can pay a coaches fines anyway.

 

Owners can't pay the fine of a player or coach, but I suppose an owner could pad a coach's salary to cover fines. But I think overuse of criticizing will actually make you a target in the refs eyes. Backfire

You make it sound like Pjax did this all the time. He'd do it like once a playoff season at most. Certainly not two different opponent series in a row

And I don't think coaches think the investment is worthwhile. They get hit for over $100k in the playoffs now. Sending videos to the office with nothing made public is the Cuban way, because they fine him like millions

 

For coaches to criticize officials, there are smart fines and there are dumb ones. All regular season fines are dumb. NBA officials and fans view them as excessive whining.

Frank Vogel made suggestive comments about officials rewarding Heat's flopping before the playoff series two years ago. He was fined of course but also 'inoculated' officials against potential Heat flops. That was a good fine. He sacrificed for the team and a great psychological move before the series. That was something Woodson should've done before they played Heat two years ago. Dumb Woody!

Vogel really earned my respect as a coach. He is ten times smarter than Woodson!

 

Also when JVG called out that fine on the refs specifically targeting Yao. Fine 100k for that. I guess JVG spoke the truth.