Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd yells during the first half of a game against the New York Knicks last month in New York.Pamela Smith/The Associated Press
Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd has been fined US$35,000 for public criticism of officiating and using profane language during a media interview, the NBA announced Monday.
Kidd made his comments after the Mavericks’ 111-107 loss at Houston Rockets on Saturday.
“The referees did not do their job tonight,” Kidd said during the postgame media session. “They were terrible.”
Kidd thought Cooper Flagg was fouled when the rookie No. 1 pick drove for a layup and missed with 25 seconds remaining and the Mavericks trailing by two points.
Kidd ended his postgame remarks with an expletive-laden response to a question about criticism the coach has received over using Flagg as a point guard when Flagg had little experience at that position coming into the NBA.
The Mavericks have lost four games in a row, undoing the momentum they’d built up in a four-game win streak prior. Going into Monday night’s games, they were 11th in the Western Conference, 3.5 games behind 10th-place Portland.