Normally, players accept the monetary consequences of a technical foul. Unless there was some egregious error which they plan to address, they’ll usually just pay the $2,500 fine and move on. Not Jimmy Butler.
The Chicago Bulls guard received a technical foul when he tripped Portland Trail Blazers forward Mason Plumlee and got in Plumlee’s face. The confrontation was a retaliation for Plumlee lowering his shoulder and bowling over a stationary Butler (Plumlee received a flagrant one foul for his role in the ordeal).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iQM6UD_LVM
However, Butler isn’t letting the issue go. He thinks Plumlee should pay for his upcoming fine, and — according to Nick Friedell of ESPN — will ask him to do just that.
“He cost me $2,500,” Butler said. “I’m not happy about that. I’m going to ask him to pay me back — and I’m not playing.”
[…]
Butler said he would ask for the money “nicely” at first, before taking a dig at Plumlee, a Duke alumnus.
“I’m going to tell my agent [Happy Walters] to email him or something,” Butler said. “I know [his address] is MisterDukie@yahoo.com or something.”
Appealing technical fouls is nothing new, but this might be the first time a player has asked another player to pay for his fine. It’s not as if the fine would put much of a dent in Butler’s pocketbook, given the massive extension he signed with the Bulls this summer. But to Butler, it appears to be a matter of principle.
(ESPN)
