Sophia Michaels
Chris Paul has a reputation of being a bit of a whiner on the basketball court, as he irks opposing fans and players alike by sometimes embellishing contact or getting after refs to make calls in his favor.
On Friday night, he only further earned such reputation when he successfully complained to referees that Jordan Bell entered the game with his jersey untucked, getting a second delay of game called on the Timberwolves in a two-point game late to get a technical free throw for the Thunder. OKC would end up winning in overtime, with the help of said technical free throw, and Paul was happy to say afterwards that he was very aware that it would be Minnesota’s second delay call of the game.
Fast forward to Sunday, and the referees in Portland seemed to want to ensure Paul knew they were going to be on top of delay of game rules during the Thunder’s tilt with the Blazers. The first delay of game call against Paul and the Thunder came in the first quarter, which drew the ire of Paul as you could hear on the Blazers broadcast.
In the second quarter, Paul picked up a second delay and proceeded to yell at the officials about how they were just “trying to prove a point” and that they’d end up on SportsCenter later that night for giving him a bit of comeuppance.
It is objectively hilarious for the refs to get ticky tack on Paul in response to his insistence that they enforce the rules to the exact letter of the law in the previous game. He doesn’t seem to fully see the humor in it, but most of the NBA world will enjoy it.
Written by: Uproxx
