Who is Ben Taylor and why is the NBA referee in the news?
For NBA referees to be in the news, it is hardly ever good news. While good officiating can miss the public attention of the world, bad officiating almost never does – and Ben Taylor has become the latest victim of it. In the wake of a recent incident in a game between the Toronto Raptors and the Los Angeles Clippers, Taylor gave Fred VanVleet a technical foul – and saw his wrath unleashed after the game.
The Toronto Raptors went up against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. It was the home team who came out on top in a 108-100 courtesy of 24-point and 23-point hauls by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, but the headlines were dominated by Raptors guard Fred VanVleet who received a technical foul during the game.
VanVleet went on an expletive-laden rant on Taylor following the game, which has made fans curious about who the referee is. As it turns out, Taylor has officiated 499 regular-season games and 22 playoff games in nine seasons as an NBA official. He made his playoff debut as a referee in 2019. Taylor joined the full-time NBA staff in 2013-14 after six seasons as a referee in the NBA G League. He also has experience as a FIBA referee.
VanVleet raged postgame at both Taylor and the other NBA officiating crew for receiving a tech foul, and what he believed to be a disparity in fouls called.
“I don’t mind it. I’ll take the fine. I don’t really care,” VanVleet began before launching into a composed, yet expletive-laden rant. “I thought Ben Taylor was f****** terrible tonight. You come out tonight, competing pretty hard and I get a bulls*** tech that changes the whole dynamic of the game, changed the whole flow of the game.”
Since going on his expletive-laden rant, the Raptors guard has been fined $30,000 for comments about officiating following Wednesday’s 108-100 loss to the Clippers. VanVleet opted to “save his money” instead of criticizing the officials after a controversial loss to the Denver Nuggets earlier this week.
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