Chris Paul lashes out at ref after questionable call; media alleges sexist undertone
There’s no debating the fact that last night’s Clippers vs Cavs game got out of hand in many different ways. For one, the Cavs–scorching hot after winning 11 straight games–were already up by 30 points in the third quarter, and being so far out of a game before crunch time is definitely not something Doc Rivers‘ squad is used to, especially not at home, where the Clips are 20-7. In addition to that, while Kyrie Irving and LeBron James were beating Lob City at their own game, the Clippers had a technical foul problem that they never quite tended to. Three referees combined to hit the Clippers with four technical fouls in the third quarter, two of which sent Matt Barnes to an early shower. However, it’s the technical foul female referee Lauren Holtkamp dished out to Chris Paul that has the internet and media in an uproar on this Friday morning.
After Matt Barnes’ first tech–which, to Barnes’ credit, was unwarranted–Paul received the inbounds pass from Deandre Jordan, and apparently mumbled or said something that Holtkamp didn’t deem appropriate. Within seconds, she blew her whistle and signaled that Paul would be receiving a technical foul. The footage of that moment begins at about the :30 mark in this video clip. Paul vented about that moment to some reporters after the game, and his controversial comments were as follows.
It’s the “maybe this isn’t for her” portion of the above Vine clip that has become a buzzing topic of conversation. Paul has spent most of the morning being accused of being sexist by members of the public and media, and he’ll undoubtedly be hit with a fine from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver for criticizing a ref, regardless of the gender “issue.”
Let’s be frank, there’s nothing here that suggests that Paul has any sort of gender bias issues. He could have, and more than likely would have, said the same thing about a male ref that slapped him with a tech for reasons unbeknownst to Paul, especially considering they were getting blown out on their home turf. However, criticizing a female referee in a league dominated by men in every category of personnel is always going to be a touchy area, no matter how generic the diction is.
