The Toronto Raptors have been through multiple ups and downs during the NBAseason. They have one of the most balanced cores in the NBA, yet it seems like they canāt find their groove night in and night out.
Thatās why itās so frustrating for them to watch the referees mess with their chances of winning when theyāre actually playing well, just like it happened vs. the Denver Nuggetsand then with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Considering that, Raptors star Fred VanVleet had one of the most epic rants in professional sports history, a NSFW tirade that cost him a $30,000 fine, but that will be remembered until the end of time.
Fred VanVleet Eviscerates NBA Referees
āI donāt mind, Iāll take a fine; I donāt really care,ā VanVleet started. āI thought Ben Taylor was fāāg terrible tonight. I think that most nights, you know out of the three [referees] thereās one or two that just fāk the game up. Itās been like that a couple of games in a row. Denver was tough, obviously. You come out tonight, competing pretty hard and I get a bullsāt tech that changes the whole dynamic of the game, changed the whole flow of the game.ā
āMost of the refs are trying hard; I like a lot of the refs, theyāre trying hard, theyāre pretty fair, and communicate well,ā the guard continued. āAnd then you got the other ones who just want to be dās and just kind of fāk up the game. And no oneās coming to see that sāt. They come to see the players. And I think weāre losing a little bit of the fabric of what the NBA is and was and itās been disappointing this season. You can look it up: Most of my techs this year have been with Ben Taylor officiating. So at a certain point as a player you feel itās personal and itās never a good place to be.ā
āThereās been certain times this year where I feel our team is getting consumed with the way the whistle is going, especially after the night we just had in Denver the way that finished so there was a couple calls earlier that we all disagreed with,āVanVleet said.
āAnd if I say to my team, ācome on, guys, letās keep playing through the bullsātā and that warrants a tech I think thatās a little bit crazy,ā added VanVleet.āLike what are we doing, know what I mean? And thereās a fine line obviously, I understand that. But I think the jurisdiction and the power trip that weāve been on this year with some of our officials in this league is getting out of hand and Iāll take my fine for speaking on it but itās just this is fāking ridiculous.ā
Well, all things considered, VanVleet should be thankful it āonlyā cost him $30,000. But heās now become the voice of a generation. NBA referees are terrible at their jobs,and someone needed to say it just the way he said it.





