NBA Officials Can Talk Smack Too

In last night’s 18-point Suns debacle at the hands of the Thunder, a baffling exchange took place with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter when Phoenix guards Zabian Dowdell and Aaron Brooks were both ejected from the game by official Ken Mauer.

According to KTAR Sports Radio Talk Show host John Gambadoro, Mauer told Dowdell to “stop being a little bitch.”

Dowdell then allegedly asked Maurer if he would repeat what he said to him off the court. Maurer immediately ejected Dowdell and then Brooks, standing up for his teammate, exercised a subtle crotch grabbing in Mauer’s direction. That obviously irked the veteran official and resulted in Brooks’ subsequent ejection.

After the game, Dowdell addressed the ejection and his interaction with Mauer without going into too much detail.

“Disrespectful, that’s how it was,” he said. “I think it was very disrespectful…obviously the game wasn’t going the way we wanted it to go. I just think something like that was uncalled for.”

Though most of the Suns players refused to directly comment on what was said between the ref and the rookie, Marcin Gortat had this to say:

“It was interesting. I’m just telling you it was interesting… for the four years in my career, I’ve never seen something like that.” Then Josh Childress chimed in from the background for the Polish Hammer to shut his big yapper.

If these allegations are in fact true, do you think officials should be penalized for expressing harsh words to a player? Should the repercussions be worse because it’s an official? Let us know what you think…

Source: SB Nation Arizona

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