Kenny Atkinson fined $50,000 for interacting with officials during Suns scrimmage

The NBA delivered $50,000 fine yes Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson after an on-field clash with officials during Cleveland’s 126-113 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Friday at the Mortgage Matchup Center. NBA executive vice president and head of basketball operations James Jones announced the punishment on Saturday.

The league’s official statement said the NBA fined Atkinson for “aggressive pursuit, insults and unintentional contact with a game official.” The incident occurred with 10:59 left in the fourth quarter, just after officials called him a second technical foul and ejected him.

The sequence started with a non-call involving Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill and Suns guard Colin Gillespie. Merrill tried to go past Gillespie on the perimeter, and Atkinson believed Gillespie had committed a foul that went uncalled. Atkinson took the field to dispute the call, yelled at the refereeing crew and made contact with an official as he continued to protest before being escorted off the floor by team personnel and security.

The officiating team for the game consisted of Mitchell Ervin, Nate Green and Michael Smith. Atkinson’s frustration built throughout the night. He received his first technical foul about four minutes into the first quarter, which he later described as an attempt to slow down the game due to Phoenix’s physical style of play.

Atkinson spoke about the trial during his post-match press conference.

“We had one free throw after three quarters against the 26th-most fouled team in the league, and then I guess the second free throw was after the flop, right?” Atkinson said. “… I’m not happy. I thought the game was out of control, quite frankly. I thought it was out of control. Parts of the game felt like a circus, quite frankly. And I don’t know if that’s what we want as a league.

“Certain characters in this league take liberties, and we don’t stand up to them. And the game turns into reviews and challenges, and we go to the monitor for 20 minutes when we’re just trying to play basketball. I don’t think that’s good for the league. I know it wasn’t good for us tonight. Just shocked, you know, they played one free as a player after three again.

“I had an early technical to try to slow it down. We knew he was going to play super physical, but you have to blow the whistle. You have to blow and you have to be fair about it. Even on that second technical, Sam dribbled the ball to Gillespie, and (Gillespie has) two hands on him. He just puts the ball in the basket with his feet. go ahead.”

The loss ended Cleveland’s five-game winning streak, and the Cavs are now 29-21, still in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

The $50,000 fine does not carry a suspension and will not affect Atkinson’s availability. It was his second shutout of the season. He was previously ejected on Nov. 10 after picking up a second technical foul against the Miami Heat.

The Cavaliers will continue their five-game Western Conference road trip against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.