Joel Przybilla suspended one game for throwing the ball at a referee (VIDEO)
Dec 16, 2012, 8:01 PM EST
Joel Przybilla of the Milwaukee Bucks has been suspended one game without pay for throwing the ball and hitting a referee, the league announced via official release.
The incident, which can be seen in the video clip above, occurred with 1:36 remaining in Milwaukee’s blowout 111-85 loss at the hands of the Clippers on Dec. 15.
Przybilla definitely didn’t get his money’s worth with this one.
A casual toss of the ball to the ref while his back was turned is generally not worthy of a suspension. However, at the end of a lopsided contest like this, it’s impossible to know how many interactions Przybilla had with the officials beforehand that may have affected not only the baseline official’s decision to whistle him for the technical foul, but the league’s decision to issue the suspension, as well.
Przybilla will be out for his team’s next game, when the Bucks host the Pacers this Tuesday.
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- captainwisdom8888 - Dec 16, 2012 at 8:10 PM
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Just plain petty. That was essentially confirmation that Pryz doesn’t have a firm grasp on his emotions and in truly pathetic fashion.
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- glink123 - Dec 16, 2012 at 10:50 PM
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I’d lawyer up on this if I was Joel. The ball was a gentle lob from 15 feet away, and gently landed at the ref’s ankle. Plus, the ref that got hit didn’t even call the technical. The idiot ref under the hoop dipped behind Joel, put the whistle in his mouth, and waited four seconds to watch the ball in flight to see if it eventually made any contact. After watching the game for 30 years, I’ve become so sick of the referees that I stopped watching basketball this year. The highlights on ESPN are enough to keep me informed.
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- moseskkim - Dec 17, 2012 at 12:12 AM
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Joel knew the referee had his back turned. It’s not about the result, it’s about him blatantly throwing a ball at the refs direction knowing his back was turned to him. Sure he threw it relatively soft/didn’t hit the refs leg all that hard.. It’s still disrespectful and refs are human too. They deserve some respect.
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- glink123 - Dec 17, 2012 at 12:19 AM
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$20,000 in lost wages is complete overkill.
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- readysethike - Dec 17, 2012 at 10:31 AM
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that was childish though…hes too old for that type of stuff
