NBA fined Ty Jerome $25k for criticizing officials

Jerome was predictably fined for his comments after Sunday’s game.

The NBA, in a move that surprised no one, fined Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome for his comments about the officiating after Sunday’s win over the Portland Trail Blazers. The fine for $25,000 was announced on Monday evening.

Jerome certainly earned his fine. He went off on officials after being asked whether he’s been in a game with 70 combined free throws, which was the case in Sunday’s game.

“I thought the refs were really bad tonight, especially Natalie [Sago], she was really bad. Stuff like that happens. They kind of lose control of the game, and you just got to keep your head. I thought that first half was ridiculous. Third quarter was horrendous. You just got to keep your head and keep playing.”

Jerome singled out the third quarter in his criticism. That seemed to be when his frustration, as well as the home-town fans, seemed to boil over. The Cavs fell down by as many as 18 in that quarter. Some of that was due to Portland attempting 13 free throws in that period alone. One of which was off of a technical foul Jerome was given for arguing with an official.

To his credit, Jerome didn’t let this influence his play. His buzzer-beating three at the end of the third quarter and his seven fourth-quarter points helped spur the Cavs’ comeback.

Jerome’s comments aren’t entirely without merit. Earlier on Monday, the NBA confirmed that the officiating crew in Sunday’s game made two incorrect calls that went against the Cavs. One was for wrongly awarding the Blazers on a ball that went out of bounds at around the two-minute mark of the fourth. The other was incorrectly calling a shooting foul on a missed Anfernee Simmons’s layup at the end of regulation. The game wouldn’t have gone into overtime without that errant call.

Still, that doesn’t give Jerome a license to criticize the officials and single out one official in particular as he did. The fine was expected.