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Chris Paul fined $25K for criticism of official

Brad Penner / USA Today Sports

A few thousand chickens have come home to roost for Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul. 

The NBA announced Saturday that Paul has been fined $25,000 for publicly criticizing referee Lauren Holtkamp after his team's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night. 

Paul was incensed over Holtkamp's loose issuance of technical fouls, having received one of the five handed out to the Clippers in the game.

"The tech I got was ridiculous," Paul said. "That's terrible. There's no way that can be a technical. We try to get the ball out fast every time down the court. When we did that, she said, 'Uh-uh.' I said, 'Why uh-uh?' and she gave me a technical. That's ridiculous. If that's the case, this might not be for her."

The comments whipped up a media maelstrom, with Paul's parting words about Holtkamp's suitability to be an NBA referee provoking allegations of gender bias. Holtkamp is one of two female referees - along with Violet Palmer - in the NBA. 

She's also in her first year as a full-time official, and Paul insinuated that her lack of experience, not gender, was at the root of his attack. 

"Last night was about a bad call," he said in the aftermath, after the Referees Association went on the offensive

Paul, the president of the NBA Players Association, also received the resounding support of NBPA executive director Michele Roberts, who said, "Any suggestion that Chris Paul would ever conduct himself in a disrespectful manner towards women is utterly ridiculous, outrageous and patently false."

The NBA effectively opted to give Paul the benefit of the doubt. $25,000 is the standard fine for public criticism of officiating, so, without any additional punitive measures, the league is treating this the way they would any disparagement of any referee. 

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