Alvin Gentry dealt with a lot of officiating issues from Saturday night's 107-101 loss to the Rockets and he's ready to pay the fine for speaking on it. After the game, The Pelicans coach said after the game that Anthony Davis doesn't get nearly the amount of respect or calls from the referees that other players get.
Gentry's theory as to why Davis doesn't get the same calls as other players is because he doesn't complain about them enough to the refs. Players and coaches in the NBA work the refs in some fashion, but Davis must not do it enough because Gentry was willing to pay a fine to get this off his chest. Via the Advocate:
"I'll take the damn fine they're going to give me tomorrow," Gentry said. "That's fine. I'm sick of it. We haven't said anything the whole year."
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"(Anthony Davis) never gets a call," Gentry shouted to a throng of reporters. "We talk about them holding him. We talk about them grabbing him on rolls. We talk about them coming under him on post ups. He never gets a call. Not one.
"And do you know why? Because he doesn't (expletive) and complain about it. He just keeps playing the game."
After an emotional game like that, it's expected for a coach in the middle of the playoff race to still be heated. Although, this sounds like something Gentry has been holding in all season long and finally let explode. It probably doesn't help Gentry that Davis is frequently banged up and the last thing the Pelicans need is for him to go down with another injury.
One thing is for certain: Nobody is happy with the referees lately. The players had a summit with the officials at All-Star weekend, to discuss tensions between the two sides, and recently league officials got into a Twitter feud with the NBA over last 2-minute reports. Refs are used to being disliked, but this is starting to get a little out of hand.
