Rockets' Dillon Brooks, Ime Udoka fined combined $60K for jawing at refs in loss to Bucks
Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks and head coach Ime Udoka expressed their frustrations with referees during a 128-119 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night. Now they'll have to pay the league as punishment.
Udoka was fined $25,000 for "directing inappropriate language toward a game official," while Brooks was cited $35,000 for language and publicly criticizing the officiating, the league announced Tuesday.
The reactions at issue stemmed from a perceived missed call as the Rockets attempted to come back from a 125-116 deficit in the last minute of the contest. Brooks deflected a pass from Bucks forward Khris Middleton in the backcourt, and appeared to be pushed out of bounds as he kept the ball in play.
Referees didn't blow a whistle until Brooks attempted to question the play. While he argued, he was assessed a technical foul for flopping. Brooks continued to shout toward referee Suyash Mehta, who was swift to call another technical, resulting in Brooks' ejection.
Udoka clearly didn't see any point in holding back either as he made his way to the court. The coach pointed and shouted at officials amid Brooks' furor before he was ejected as well.
Dillon Brooks and Ime Udoka are ejected!!!!! pic.twitter.com/uyvUVh3Hn5
— Oh no he didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) December 18, 2023
It's no surprise that Brooks was penalized more for his comments after the game, in which he lambasted the league's referees:
"[My frustration] was about the call," Brooks told reporters. "I'm sick of refs being right in front of the play and not making calls. And then compiling it with a bailout call like a flop or something. I ran full speed to get the ball after I made a great play on trying to get a steal."
Brooks went on to imply that officials could potentially allow players to get hurt by missing crucial calls.
"Two hands are on me and then after that I'm throwing the ball and trying to protect myself from not falling into the fans or the bottom of the floor — I know a guy got injured like that, done for the season. I'm trying to protect myself and then he wants to call a flop with a minute left, it doesn't make sense," he added. "It's unacceptable for me and that ref shouldn't even be reffing our games, for real."
Somehow, Udoka's postgame remarks didn't factor into the NBA's fine.
"It was a blatant missed push out of bounds on that call, obviously," Udoka said Sunday night. "Same refs missing the same calls throughout the game — calling it very quickly or tight on other plays. It was that specific play, but it was a ton of missed calls throughout."
This is the first year in Houston for both of the recently sanctioned Rockets. Udoka was hired to lead the team in April, following a suspension from his role as head coach of the Boston Celtics. Brooks signed a four-year, $86 million contract with Houston during the offseason. The former Memphis Grizzly is averaging 13.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. He is shooting 39 percent from 3, a career-high mark.
Houston is 13-10 after Sunday's loss.
