NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson fined for court confrontation

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has fined Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson $50,000 (41,000) because of aggressively going after, beating up, and accidentally bumping a game official during Friday night’s loss on the road to the Phoenix Suns.

James Jones, the NBA head of basketball operations, announced it on Saturday.

Atkinson, who was thrown out of the game, was given the first technical at 4:10 left in the first quarter and the second technical, which ejected him, at 10:59 left in the fourth.

The losing streak of the Cavs following a 5-game winning streak was 126-113.

Atkinson was the winner of the NBA Coach of the Month award last season and was quoted as having gotten frustrated after no foul was called on a Suns player, Collin Gillespie, as he was guarding a Cleveland guard, Sam Merrill.

The 57-year-old coach entered the court and demanded to be served by the officials, and accidentally touched one of them, which he explained as an incident that was unintended.

“I wouldn’t say bumped,” Atkinson said after the match. “I think we touched. There was no intention.”

He also condemned the job of the referees in general, citing the difference in free throws.

Cleveland made 8-of-11 at the foul line, with Phoenix making 13-of-18.

The Cavaliers had made 17 personal fouls to 19 by the Suns. Atkinson fine points out that the NBA still emphasises the need to have order and professionalism on the sidelines.