Ref suspended for throwing ball at fan in Orlando

[duncan228]

Ref suspended for throwing ball at fan in Orlando

Referee Joe DeRosa has been suspended without pay for throwing a ball at a fan during halftime of an NBA playoff game in Orlando.

DeRosa will miss the next game he would have been scheduled to work.

At halftime of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals between Orlando and Boston, DeRosa was walking to the scorer’s table to get the warm-up jackets for his crew.

A fan behind the table approached DeRosa, gesturing with his arms and appearing to be shouting at the veteran official. DeRosa flipped the game ball to the fan, who tossed it back.

[JamStone]

Lol what the was he thinking?

How could he think it's ok to throw the ball at a heckling fan in disgust? And why was he surprised when the fan threw it back? Lol, then he gets the fan kicked out for him being a made official.

[mogrovejo]

1 game? Not enough. Should have been for the rest of the playoffs.

[BUMP]

Thank God, Stern took some initiative here. Would've been total BS, if that didn't happen.

I wouldn't have cared if he just threw the ball but then he mentioned security to come over to eject the fan even though he initiated it

[4>0rings]

Mono claiming he was the fan at the game and he epicly trolled the ref in 3... 2...

[The TroutBum]

Mono claiming he was the fan at the game and he epicly trolled the ref in 3... 2...

lame.

[D2Procon]

Its part of the conspiracy guys. The whole thing was set up. The fan is part of the family of one of Stern's associates. They figured they would get the referee suspended so that Stern can deploy one of his referees to take over the game.

[LnGrrrR]

Lol what the was he thinking?

How could he think it's ok to throw the ball at a heckling fan in disgust? And why was he surprised when the fan threw it back? Lol, then he gets the fan kicked out for him being a made official.

Agreed with everything in this post.

Totally unprofessional.

[Lawrence_Taylor]

Lol what the was he thinking?

How could he think it's ok to throw the ball at a heckling fan in disgust? And why was he surprised when the fan threw it back? Lol, then he gets the fan kicked out for him being a made official.

wrong. fan was not kicked out.

[SomeCallMeTim]

Thank God, Stern took some initiative here. Would've been total BS, if that didn't happen.

I wouldn't have cared if he just threw the ball but then he mentioned security to come over to eject the fan even though he initiated it

Not defending the fan but...

The fan initiated it, not the ref.

That said... De Rosa clearly screwed up. He's the professional. Handled it very poorly. Got what was coming to him and I agree with Mogro... he's lucky it was only 1 game. Dang lucky.