Raptors’ Fred VanVleet Goes Off on Referee Ben Taylor

The Toronto star went on an F-bomb-laden rant about an official and officiating around the NBA.

The Raptors lost a tough one in Los Angeles to the Clippers on Wednesday night, 108–101, and after the game star point guard Fred VanVleet was not afraid to take aim at game official Ben Taylor in an F-bomb-laden rant during his press conference.

Taylor called a technical foul on VanVleet midway through the third quarter, the third that the official has assessed the guard this season. VanVleet has eight total on the year, and controversial technical fouls at key junctures have become an issue for Toronto in recent weeks.

"I mean, I don't mind. I'll take a fine. I don't really care. I thought Ben Taylor was f------ terrible tonight," VanVleet said after the game. “I thought that on most nights, a couple out of the three [officials], there’s one or two that just f--- the game up. … You come out tonight, competing pretty hard. Third quarter I get a bulls--- tech, changes the whole dynamic of the game. Changes the whole flow of the game.

"Most of the refs are trying hard, I like a lot of the refs, they're trying hard, they're pretty fair, they communicate well. And then you have the other ones who just want to be dicks and it just kind of f--- the game up. Nobody's coming to see that s---, they want to see the players. I think we're losing a little bit of the fabric of what the NBA is and was. It's been disappointing this season. You can look up, most of my techs this year have been with Ben Taylor officiating. So at a certain point as an NBA player you feel it's personal. It's never a good place to be. That's not why we lost tonight, we got outplayed, but that makes it tougher to overcome.

Fred VanVleet went OFF on referee Ben Taylor and NBA reffing in general in his post-game after the Raptors loss. Haven't heard anything like this. pic.twitter.com/VcMkGTh0k3

— Faizal Khamisa (@FaizalKhamisa) March 9, 2023

VanVleet reiterated that he’ll accept the likely fine from the league for speaking out about the officials like this, adding that he believes some of them are on a “power trip” this season.

“I’ll take my fine for speaking on it, but it’s f------ ridiculous.”