Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert slapped with fines for criticizing officials post Jazz loss

The Utah Jazz suffered a 123-131 OT loss against the Philadelphia 76ers. Both teams are leading their respective conferences, emerging as unexpected title contenders. However, Jazz stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert have been completely vocal about feeling disrespected, also calling out the referees and their officiating. The league, however, has fined the two players now. 

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Mithcell, Gobert fined for calling out Jazz vs 76ers officiating

NBA executive vice president Kiki VanDeWeghe released the statement about the fines, which were related to the team's loss on Wednesday (Thursday IST). Gobert was fine $20,000, while Mitchell was slapped with a $25,000 fine. As per reports, Mitchell was also reprimanded for the way he exited the court after the game. 

Donovan Mitchell fined $25K for his comments and hitting the water cooler. Rudy Gobert fined $20K. No fine for Mike Conley. pic.twitter.com/KerHi7LZRI

— Eric Walden (@tribjazz)

Mitchell was also upset over his ejections with 30.5 seconds remaining in OT, even cursing about the way referees were officiating the game. The 24-year-old guard made sure his disappointment was known, even smashing the water cooler on his way out. While he apparently apologized to the security guard near the cooler, VanDeWeghe referred to his behaviour at Wells Fargo Center as "reckless". 

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Mitchell first gave the 76ers credit, noting how they competed, and the Embiid-led 76ers are a good team at the end of the day. "But it's tough. It's tough to go out there and see how we fight and compete, and to have a game like that taken from us," Mitchell said. 

He added that he is not the one to blame referees, but the situation is 'getting out of hand'. "We won this game, in my personal opinion. You know?" Mitchell explained. However, he maintained that he would give the 76ers the credit, even though the team is frustrated. 

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Gobert only added to what Mitchell said, thinking how they can't even get calls everyone else does. "We know we are the Utah Jazz, and maybe some people don't want to see us go as far as we can go, but it's disappointing," he added, even referring to it as disrespectful – to the game and their team. 

"We're going to watch film and do all that and keep getting better, but we deserve more respect as a team and as human beings for all the work we put in," he explained. 

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(Image credits: Utah Jazz Instagram)