Nets Co-Owner Joseph Tsai Fined For Tweet Criticizing NBA Refs

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Another day, another fine for a Brooklyn Nets executive.

General manager Sean Marks was fined $25,000 and suspended for one game after he went into the referee’s locker room following Brooklyn’s 112-108 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 4 of their series. Now, Nets part-owner Joseph Tsai has been fined $35,000 for his tweet after the game which defended Marks.

My partners and I have spoken and the entire Nets ownership group support our GM Sean Marks for protesting the wrong calls and missed calls. NBA rules are rules and we respect that, but our players and fans expect things to be fair.

— Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999) April 22, 2019

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Game 4 was a heated affair. Both Jared Dudley and Jimmy Butler were ejected in the third quarter after Joel Embiid committed a flagrant foul on Jarrett Allen. Marks had been upset about the handling of Embiid’s flagrant foul, which was his second of the series after an incident in Game 2 in Philadelphia.

NBA referees also admitted in their “Last 2 Minutes” report that Tobias Harris should have been called for a foul for grabbing Allen with 12 seconds remaining as the Nets attempted to tie the game on Saturday.

Despite having a legitimate gripe, Tsai was fined for “public statements detrimental to the NBA.”

Brooklyn will try to save their season on Tuesday night when they travel back to Pennsylvania for Game 5.