“Enough is enough of it,” said JB Bickerstaff after a frustrating loss against the OKC Thunder. Following a fantastic display of fightback, the Detroit Pistons couldn’t close out the game in their favor. Well, the Thunder are the #1 seeding team in the West for a reason. However, the Pistons Coach didn’t let that console him. The 46-year-old went on a furious rant at the presser, slamming the table. Looking at the past, JB could end up in fine trouble.

Bickerstaff started off the statement, saying, “I am disgusted by the way the game was officiated. The level of disrespect was above and beyond.” Following that, he went on to point out a major error, “They have a guy fall down, tripped on his own teammate’s foot. They review us for hostile act.” That wasn’t the only controversial call. 

During the late end of the third quarter, the Little Caesars Arena was nothing short of a hostile environment. The crowd was already chanting “Ref you suck,” after a technical foul on Cade Cunningham. Just as the chants were getting louder, the 23-year-old guard received another tech and was ejected from the game. The crowd simply couldn’t believe it, and so did the Pistons bench. Additionally, the ref slapped Dennis Schroder with a tech, as he argued for clarification.

After the dust had settled, JB Bickerstaff stood at the courtside, completely flabbergasted. He must be wondering what to say at the presser ’cause he put forward a stern demand at the refs at the presser. He said, “We’re bringing something positive to the league. We are growing young players… The least that they can do is get the same respect as everybody else in the league, get refereed the same way that everybody else in this league deserves,” and slammed the table.

After that, he once again referred to the officiating as “disgusting” and crushed the paper on the table before walking out. In the NBA world, everything comes with a price. So, what’s next for Bickerstaff? Let’s find out.

JB Bickerstaff might land in severe fine trouble

There are several instances where the league has slapped fines on the coaches for criticizing the refs publicly. Most recently, the league fined the Bucks coach, Doc Rivers, with a hefty of $25,000 for his statement after the loss against the Hornets in November 2024. In the same month, the Kings’ former coach, Mike Brown, received a $35,000 fine for aggressively pursuing the referee during the game. 

So, considering the aggressive nature of Bickerstaff’s criticism, describing the officiating as “disgusting”, the league might come up with a special price. What do you think? At the same time, the league released the pool report for the controversial ejection of Cade Cunningham. 

Crew Chief Brian Forte, who responded to the questions, said the on-court ref slapped the first tech on Cade for “disrespectfully addressing an official with profanity,” and followed it with another tech immediately for continued use of profanity.

However, Bickerstaff, in his statement, argued that refs barely had any patience on them. He added, “I tried to have a conversation with the official. The official was arguing with Mark. I said his name one time, and he screams at me and tells me ‘That’s enough’.” We can’t conclude without hearing both sides. Let’s leave it to the league to determine. Anyway, what do you think? Let us know in the comments below.