Golden State Warriors' Jordan Poole (3) shows his disgust at missing a basket against the Chicago Bulls despite his 30-point shooting night, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022, at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO — Jordan Poole said he didn’t get an explanation from officials after he received a fourth-quarter technical foul Friday night for his bench celebration.
With the Bulls battling back from an 18-point deficit, Klay Thompson hit a 3-pointer that extended the Warriors lead back to seven. Naturally, Poole stood up from the bench and put a finger in the air to celebrate.
But Poole made an error, similar to the one Draymond Green made earlier this week in a win over the Timberwolves. Poole stepped foot on the court. A whistle was blown, and Poole was handed a technical foul at the 5:59 mark.
Zach LaVine made the free throw to pull the Bulls within six. LaVine led the visiting team’s charge and cut the Warriors’ lead to one with 2:27 left in the game. But Golden State held on for their ninth consecutive win at Chase Center.
After the Warriors’ 119-111 win, coach Steve Kerr said he thought Golden State should’ve received a warning for the violation. He was later told that if a player who isn’t in the game steps on the court than it’s an automatic technical foul.
“I guess the warning is for if everybody is standing up or being too demonstrative,” Kerr said. “That was a surprise because it had nothing to do with the play, and I’ll have to look at it on the tape but yeah we got to adapt to that.”
Poole also took issue with the call after the game.
“I don’t know when they tried to start controlling everything is my question,” said Poole, who one day earlier called for consistency with the NBA’s crackdown on travel and carry violations. “You bring energy on the bench, it was a big shot, but it’s like a couple inches from the bench to the sidelines.
“So I guess if my foot steps out of bounds and on the court, and they give us a tech, it is what it is. It didn’t stop us from winning the game, probably tried to stop us from winning the game but it is what it is so we’ll take it.”
This is the second time in three games the Warriors were slapped with a technical foul for their bench celebrations. Green was assessed a tech Sunday night for doing the same thing Poole did Friday. Moments after Green was handed his seventh tech of the season, Stephen Curry trolled the call by intentionally picking up a technical foul for his own bench celebration.
“I’ll take the fine!” Curry posted on social media Sunday night after the win.
The Associated Press reported in September that bench behavior would be more closely monitored than previous seasons after the league witnessed an increase in players standing in their bench areas during play and often encroaching on the sidelines. The Dallas Mavericks were repeat offenders of the league’s bench decor rules and racked up nearly $200,000 in fines during the 2022 playoffs.
Originally published at Madeline Kenney