Following from Kurt Helin of NBC’s Probasketballtalk.
His use of the pronoun “her” and calling out a female referee led some on Twitter to rush in to defend Lauren Holtkamp, the female referee who handed out the technical to Paul. She is one of two female referees in the NBA this season and numerous people defended her right to be an official in the league saying Paul came off as sexist.
Of course, the combination of Twitter and small-minded people who don’t think women should be involved in men’s sports led to a backlash unleashed on Holtkamp and her defenders.
Holtkamp is a rookie promoted from the D-League to this job and rookie referees get little slack from veteran players (and coaches) as it is. They see the rookies as struggling to get used to the league, just as rookie players do. Players talk back to rookie referees faster than the veterans they trust. And the Clippers had issues with Holtkamp earlier this season (in a game against Miami).
Couldn’t have said it better Mr.Helin.
Take out the pronoun ‘her’. Chris Paul had to voice an opinion he had against a referee, that’s it. Which he most likely will get fined for.
Here are the Technicals called.
Chris Paul is a man who is held in the highest regard in the NBA. He’s a multi-time NBA All-Star. He is the President of the Players Association in the NBA. He has long been respected by players and NBA officials alike and maybe he shouldn’t have said ‘her’ but he did. He didn’t mean any ill-will or negative connotations behind it.
The real problem here is the Clippers, which Paul pointed out in the video, and their lack of composure. They got 5 technical fouls and 1 flagrant by the 3rd quarter alone. They couldn’t hang with the Cleveland Cavaliers in their decimating loss last night in Cleveland and they tried to beat up their opponents instead of out play them.
That’s the real story, the issues with the Clippers not being able to keep their composure, not what word Chris Paul used to voice his frustrations.
