BROOKLYN, New York - The NBA announced that Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton had been fined $15,000 for "verbally abusing a game official and not leaving the court in a timely manner after his ejection."
Prior to Wendesday's game against the Brooklyn Nets, Walton was asked about the fine and responded unapologetically, "It's their call."
Asked if he had any regrets or wished he'd handled the event differently, Walton didn't sound the least bit sorry or remorseful about walking onto the court, cursing out the game officials before eventually leaving the court without his suit jacket on his back.
"No," Walton answered if he had any regrets regarding the incident. "It's the same thing I said after the game. (If) our guys aren't getting, the way I feel, treated right, then I'm going to stand up for them. That's what we do as a team. I've always raised that (the) team is a family. You stand up for your family. You stand up for your brothers."
Walton concluded, "So, as a head coach, that's what I'm going to do every time for my guys."
Yup, Walton isn't sorry for losing his mind and his jacket, and he promises to do it again. To be fair, Julius Randle did get fully football tackled by DeMarcus Cousins on the play, and apparently, none of the three officials saw anything wrong with the non-basketball action. Walton had good reason to lose his mind considering Randle has had a couple of hip pointer issues and admitted to being less than 100 percent entering the game.
The NBA did not comment on whether any or all of the three officials had also been fined for missing the obvious call.
