We understand the frustration. Most coaches would get upset after falling behind by double-digits against a Sacramento Kings team missing their best player, DeMarcus Cousins. But that’s what happened during Wednesday night’s Bucks – Kings clash that saw Sacramento extend a fourth-quarter lead to 120-109 after an Omri Casspi three-pointer with a little under two minutes to play.
On the ensuing Bucks possession, Giannis Antetokounmpo missed a layup and Kidd thought he had gotten fouled. Milwaukee called a timeout and Kidd spent a few seconds arguing with referee Zach Zarba before this happened:
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Zarba immediately tossed Kidd, obviously. When asked what happened after the game (the Bucks would go on to lose 129-118), Kidd explained that he got the first technical for complaining about the apparent uncalled foul on Antetokounmpo and said “My job is to protect those guys.”
Coincidentally, the “Slapsgiving” moment occurred two years to the day after he told one his players to intentionally “hit me” so he’d spill his drink to stop play late in a game when he was coaching the Brooklyn Nets.
Kidd was later fined $50,000 for the spilled drink incident, and there could be a fine coming here, too. Mike Budenholzer was recently docked $25,000 for appearing to bump an official before getting tossed this past week. Since the referee’s union was so angry Coach Bud wasn’t suspended, we wouldn’t be surprised if there was a bit of an overreaction to Kidd’s Slapsgiving to try to smooth any ruffled refs.
