In one of the stranger encounters of the 2015-16 NBA season, Deron Williams was assessed a technical by referee David Jones during the Mavericks game against the Pistons on March 9. Jones seemingly went out of his way to get into an argument with Williams, and Rick Carlisle accused the ref of deliberately baiting Williams into a technical, calling his actions “inexcusable.”
It appears Carlisle’s accusations were justified, as Jones got in touch with him to apologize for the incident, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Said Carlisle in a statement: “With the league’s permission, David Jones contacted me today to apologize for the situation that developed with Deron Williams last night. I accepted his apology and told him that I now consider this matter in the past.”
The league also issued a statement saying Jones acted improperly, and that the matter was being dealt with internally. We often excuse in-game tussles as players getting caught up in the moment, and that’s pretty much what this is. Even though Jones wasn’t playing, his adrenaline and emotions must have been running high, too. Everyone makes mistakes, simple as that.
Hopefully, that’s the end of everything. Joey Crawford retired yesterday, putting to rest his long-standing, bizarre feud with the San Antonio Spurs. We don’t need another ref to pick up his mantle.
