EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Jason Kidd was fined $20,000 by the
NBA on Wednesday for a postgame rant in which he referred to
officials Jim Clark, Tom Washington and Eric Lewis as "three blind
mice."
The New Jersey Nets' star was angry about the officiating during
a 92-91 loss at Detroit on Tuesday night. NBA executive vice
president Stu Jackson handed down the fine.
Nets coach Lawrence Frank was not fined despite walking on the
court and yelling at Washington for not calling a foul when Vince
Carter was bumped by Rasheed Wallace before missing a potential
game-winning 15-foot shot.
"We come to work, and we work extremely hard at this, only for
the officials to screw us," Kidd said. "We fought, but that
doesn't mean anything when you have the officials take over the
game like that. You go with the three blind mice, and it's just sad
that Tom screwed up that game for us."
The no-call came just seconds after Clark called a foul on
Carter on a drive to the basket by Chauncey Billups with 7.2
seconds to go. It was somewhat of a touch foul, and not nearly as
hard as the bump by Wallace on Carter seconds later.
Kidd, who makes $18.08 million this season, did not plan to
appeal the fine. But he didn't back off his comments, either.
"That's how I felt," the All-Star point guard said Wednesday
before the Nets played Houston. "That's how our team felt. It was
the truth. There is no reason to talk about yesterday. We have to
worry about today."
Frank refused to say whether he was surprised the league didn't
fine him, too.
"I have paid my fair share of fines," Frank said. "It's not
about the money, whether you are fined or not. This league isn't
about money as much as people talk about money. It's about
achievement. It hurts when something like that happens, and we lost
the game."