Raptors’ Fred VanVleet tears into referee after loss: ‘Ben Taylor was f—ing terrible tonight’

A hefty fine is coming for Toronto Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet, and he does not seem too bothered. 

Following Toronto’s 108-100 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday night, VanVleet ripped the officiating, singling out referee Ben Taylor. 

“I don’t mind, I’ll take a fine. I don’t really care,” VanVleet said. “I thought Ben Taylor was f—ing terrible tonight. I thought that on most nights, out of the three [officials], there’s one or two that just f— the game up. It’s been like that a couple of games in a row.

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“Denver was tough, obviously [the prior game]. Come out tonight, competing pretty hard, third quarter I get a bulls— tech. Changed the whole dynamic of the game. Changed the whole flow of the game. You know, most of the refs are trying hard. I like a lot of the refs. They’re trying hard. They’re pretty fair. They communicate well. And then you got the other ones who just want to be d—-. 

On Monday, NBA official Scott Foster ejected Raptors forward Scottie Barnes late in the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets. 

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On Wednesday, the Clippers attempted 31 free throws to the Raptors’ 14. 

VanVleet has eight technical fouls on the season, three of which have been called by Taylor. 

“It just kind of f—- game up. Nobody’s coming to see that s—. They’re coming to see the players,” VanVleet continued. “And I think we’re losing a little bit of the fabric of what the NBA is and was. It’s been disappointing this season. You can look up … most of my tech’s this year have been with Ben Taylor officiating. At a certain point as a player you feel it’s personal. 

“It’s never a good place to be. That’s not why we lost tonight. We got outplayed, but it definitely makes it tougher to overcome.” 

The Raptors have not met expectations this season, currently in the ninth spot in the Eastern Conference with a record of 32-35.