Dallas Mavericks

Mavs coach Carlisle says ref crossed line, baited Deron Williams into technical

Published Mar. 10, 2016 6:28 a.m. ET

Kerouac Smith

Dallas Mavericks point guard Deron Williams got a technical foul Wednesday night and his coach, Rick Carlisle, is pretty upset.

Not with Williams, though.

Carlisle was livid with the ref who called the foul, longtime official David Jones, for following Williams back to the Mavs bench after the two had a disagreement on the floor. In the video below, you can see Williams return to the bench during a timeout, then Jones approach the Mavs sideline and somehow get Williams' attention. The point guard then stood up and reacted, which is when Jones hit him with a technical.

Here's video RT @espn_macmahon: Rick Carlisle: Ref David Jones baited Deron Williams into T https://t.co/ZRKGQQTpyf pic.twitter.com/cdLVDX8XFR
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) March 10, 2016

After the game, Carlisle unloaded.

''He went out of his way. He could have walked away from it. I said, `I got it. Let it go.' He said, `No. I got it.' He walked back into our huddle and baited Deron Williams into getting into a technical. And I don't think that that's right. A referee's job is to defuse a situation.''

Jones didn't comment to reporters when asked about it afterward.

Williams didn't take the bait after the game, either, saying, "I've never commented on officials in my 10-year career and I'm not going to start now. Things happen during a game. I got T'd up. That's all there is to it," according to The Dallas Morning News.

The newspapers' report also had lots more from Carlisle:

"For the first time in a 33-year NBA career, I saw a referee make a point of going out of his way and walking into our huddle and baiting one of our guys into getting a technical," he said. "I've never seen anything like that in my years. I don't see how that can ever be excusable. So there are a lot of things happening right now and we've got to rise above them."

Carlisle picks his spots when it comes to talking about officiating. But when he does, he usually doesn't sugarcoat things.

Asked how Jones had baited Williams, he said: "I'm not getting into that, but he clearly did. He went out of his way, could have walked away from it, made a point of going back and I said, 'I got it, I got it, let it go.' He goes, 'no, I got it.' And he walked essentially into our huddle and baited Deron Williams into getting a technical. And I don't think that's right.

"An official's job is to defuse the situation, not to blow it up. And the referee we're talking about is an experienced guy. But I've never seen anything like this."

The Mavericks lost to the Pistons, 102-96.