The Houston Rockets have had a phenomenal start to the 2024-25 season, entering Saturday’s game against Portland at 12-5 on the young season, but things did not go as planned against the scrappy, young Blazers in a 104-98 loss.
The frustrations of that loss were evident late in the fourth quarter when Fred VanVleet got ejected after getting into it with the officials, telling them all that they suck, but then took things a step further after getting run by walking directly to the official that tossed him, pointing in his face, and telling him “you’re a b*tch.”
— Diamond Scar (@diamondscar22) November 24, 2024
From the TV angle, it wasn’t clear if VanVleet made contact with the official’s face, which was of concern to the Rockets broadcast crew as that would’ve been an auto-suspension. However, a side angle showed that he did not make contact, but did still point his finger right in the ref’s face in a moment that wasn’t exactly his finest. This will definitely lead to VanVleet paying a hefty fine to the league office, and we’ll have to wait and see if, even without actually poking the ref, this crossed enough of a line to earn him a night off without pay. VanVleet is averaging 14.9 points and 6.2 assists per game this season for Houston.