DALLAS — Moments after the Mavericks’ 111-110 win over the Toronto Raptors Friday night, Spencer Dinwiddie pulled on a blue Mavericks shirt and walked into the team’s interview room.
He had another “monologue” to unleash, this time about official Tony Brothers, whom Dinwiddie said called him a “b---- a-- motherf-----” to a teammate after assessing Dinwiddie a technical foul.
“I would like to take the very first piece of this press conference and say I apologize to Tony Brothers for what seemed to keep him irate,” Dinwiddie said.
Brothers called the 29-year-old guard for a technical foul 47.8 seconds before halftime for clapping his hands to protest a transition take foul.
“He thought it was disrespectful,” Dinwiddie continued. “If you watch the games, and I know that’s what refs are supposed to do, you see I clap to get the attention of my teammates, things of that nature, but it was nothing personal, so as a man, I would like to say I’m sorry first and foremost.
“And secondarily I would like to say not only would I like my money back [for NBA’s standard technical punishment], but I would like to not be called a b---- a-- motherf----- to my teammates.
“So if there’s anybody that feels that way about me — not naming any names — they can address me personally, face-to-face, because no swear words were used in the direction of anybody personally. It was like ‘Hey, that wasn’t a take foul’ or ‘That wasn’t a f------ take foul’ or something like that, but it wasn’t anything that was personal.
“So NBA, I would definitely like my money back. I would appreciate no fine.”
The NBA did not make Brothers available for a pool report after the game because, a spokesman said, requests for official interviews are granted only for rule clarification.
Dinwiddie said a Mavericks teammate alerted him to Brothers’ language “verbatim,” but he did not hear the insult directly.
“I’m fine with that,” Dinwiddie said. “Everybody’s a competitor out there. I understand it’s the heat of the moment. I’ve definitely said swear words, but like, if I was playing against somebody on the other team and they said that to my teammate, I would be like, ‘Listen, hey, I’m right here.' ”
“But because obviously [officials are] positions of authority and whatnot, you can’t necessarily ask for that address, so I’m just taking my fair stance and saying, ‘Hey, look, if you feel that way, fine by me.’ Just say it to my face like any other grown man. That’s all I want. I’m not even mad at the language. Everybody has said things before when they are upset or feeling sensitive or hurt. That’s fine. Just say it to my face. That’s all I would like.”
Jason Kidd, who typically talks first with reporters after games, followed Dinwiddie’s media session after learning about his starting guard’s concerns after the game.
“That’s tough. I have to talk to Spencer,” Kidd said. “When you look at Tony and what he’s done in this league as a referee, he’s well-liked and then also one of the best that we have, so I don’t know. We’re going to see what happened here and talk to Spencer and find out exactly what happened.”
The Mavericks have had issues with Brothers in the past.
Brothers called a double-technical foul on Kidd, ejecting him from a loss to the Wizards last April, after Kidd said he asked Brothers’ crew about a delay-of-game violation during a Washington substitution.
A few days later, Brothers assessed Mavs star Luka Doncic with a technical foul in the second-to-last regular-season game, what would’ve been a suspension-triggering 16th on the season for the 23-year-old superstar had the NBA not rescinded the call the next day.
Doncic took a diplomatic approach after Dinwiddie’s comments Friday.
“I heard,” he said with a smile, clarifying he wasn’t the teammate who relayed the expletives to Dinwiddie. “I don’t know what to say.”
