A wild finish in Houston! The Rockets have put the entire league on notice with their hot start to the season. They aimed to continue their dominance tonight as they hosted the Trail Blazers. However, things did not go in their favor as Fred VanVleet got booted from the game for going off at the officials after a non-call. The Pool Report on the play revealed the officials’ perspective while VanVleet awaits penalty.

With the Rockets trailing by three points in the final seconds, VanVleet attempted to draw a foul on his game-tying shot attempt. Although he was clearly out of balance, the foul was never called and the Blazers got a transition foul on the other end.

As per crew chief Courtney Kirkland, “In live action, we felt that the defender stayed directly on the path of VanVleet during his attempted motion toward the basket. After video review, we see the defender did close space and did make contact with the hip of VanVleet and a foul should have been called.” Yes, the official admitted that the non-call VanVleet was angry about was a mistake on their part and it was a foul. However, it would not have resulted in free throws.

But the situation escalated when the veteran guard was called for a foul just seconds later. Left fuming after the call, VanVleet pointed at all three game officials and seemingly yelled, “You suck. You suck. And You suck. B—- a—n—-.” Sure enough, he got tossed from the game for his actions. Even while leaving the court, Fred’s anger was evident as his hand came inches close to an official’s face as he told him, “You’re a B—-.” Addressing the reason behind the ejection, Kirkland said, “VanVleet was ejected on one technical foul for his vulgar language and pointing at all three officials.” With the reason clear, the big question now is… What will be Fred VanVleet’s punishment?

Fred VanVleet’s vulgar comment could cost him $50,000 based on a similar Kelly Oubre Jr. incident

Surely, VanVleet will be fined by the league for his “vulgar” and the figure could be $50,000 or more. That’s because Kelly Oubre Jr. was fined the same amount last season after he pointed at every game official in frustration and said, “You’re a b***h. You’re a b***h. You’re a b***h.” Yes, the incident occurred after he got blocked by Kawhi Leonard on two consecutive plays which led to his team’s loss.

Similar to what happened tonight, Oubre believed he was fouled on both plays, but the refs never blew the whistle. And he was left fuming, which eventually led to his outburst. Although Oubre was fined $50K for “verbally abusing and directing an obscene gesture toward game officials”, he was not suspended. Well, that could also be VanVleet’s fate after tonight’s ejection. But the penalty could be more severe and even lead to a suspension if he made contact with the official while pointing at his face. However, that has not been clarified yet and everyone is awaiting Adam Silver’s decision.