San Antonio Spurs big man Zach Collins is about to be a little lighter in the wallet after flipping off officials following his ejection for a second technical foul during Friday’s 140-113 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
In the second quarter, Collins was called for a foul with which he took immediate issue. Kings center Domantas Sabonis pinned Collins deep in the paint and, to be fair, it looked like Sabonis was initiating a lot of the contact.
But the problem came after Collins was removed from the game, when he said a few magic words to the official as he made his way to the bench. That got him one tech, which led to Collins turning around to say a bit more. Which led to the second tech and the ejection. Which, in turn, brought out the bird. We can’t say for certain which particular referee Collins was directing his frustration toward, but 31-year vet Michael Smith was the one who ejected him.
Recently, Houston Rockets point guard Fred VanVleet was fined $50K for a “profane” outburst and for pointing his finger in the face of an official after he was ejected.
A week ago, the Nuggets‘ Russell Westbrook was fined $35K for “making an obscene gesture” toward the opposing team’s bench. Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards also got dinged for $35K for flipping off fans during an NBA Cup game. The difference in those two is the bird wasn’t flying toward officials. Collins was going at the refs, and that could, perhaps, warrant a heftier punishment.
We’ll see how much this little tantrum ends up costing Collins, but somewhere between the $35K Edwards and Westbrook lost and the $50K VanVleet had to fork over seems likely. We also can’t rule out suspension, though that seems less likely.
