Van Exel’s Gamble Costs Him $10,000

They see those comments and raise him a response.

Nick Van Exel talked in frustration Friday night about the officials taking some action on the game, even if he meant it more as a figure of speech, and the NBA on Saturday showed its cards, fining the Laker guard $10,000 for the comments.

Van Exel offered his mea culpa to Jeff Mishkin, the league’s executive vice president and chief legal officer, and Horace Balmer, the vice president of security, during a 10-minute phone call earlier in the day, then gave one publicly after practice in the evening. The conciliatory tone with the NBA brass may have saved him from a suspension, a very real possibility.

“Real brief and to the point,” Van Exel said of his conversation on the proverbial carpet.

Just long enough to get hollered at.

“Not really hollering,” he said. “But they were making the statements that, did I have any proof, any evidence to say that. I said no.”

In other words, league officials, bristling at even an off-handed comment that referees would be on the take, were not exactly interested in an exchange of ideas with Van Exel. The tone was obvious, so he expected a fine.

“Of course,” the Laker team captain said. “That’s what they do best.”

Van Exel to the end.

Trouble came in the aftermath of the Lakers’ 98-97 loss the night before at Miami, a heartbreaking defeat punctuated by two calls, one a turning point and the other leading to the final points.

The first, with about three minutes left, was a non-call when Elden Campbell thought he had been fouled going to the basket, resulting in Campbell being called for a technical foul by Tommy Nunez and the end of the Lakers’ momentum. The other was Campbell being called for a loose-ball foul after going over Willie Anderson’s back for the tip-in that would have been worth a 99-96 lead. Instead, the basket was nullified and Anderson went to the line with 17.4 seconds remaining and made two free throws for the one-point victory.

“That’s a tough call,” Van Exel said soon after, referring to the first play. “But bad refs make bad calls. You expect those calls from refs like that.”

Then, when someone asked him if he thought it was a hometown call, Van Exel, speaking in calm tones but obviously frustrated, responded: “More like a betting call. If the FBI wants to investigate Fresno State [for allegations of point shaving] then they should investigate those three refs.”

The Lakers have long had a general dislike for Nunez’s work. It’s just none of them had ever tied that in to point shaving. The NBA was not amused that someone decided to now.

Saturday, Van Exel called his reaction “a rush to judgment because there wasn’t any truth or any evidence to say that.” Taking it a step further, he specifically mentioned the veteran crew in trying to put the incident behind him, unlike a year earlier when he shoved referee Ron Garretson, got suspended for seven games and fined $25,000, then apologized to everyone but Garretson.

This time:

“I’d like to apologize to Tommy Nunez, Ronnie Nunn, Tommie Wood and the entire staff of NBA referees for the comments I made after last night’s game. What I said was wrong. My comments regarding betting were not meant to be taken seriously, but I shouldn’t have said it anyway and I’m sorry at how it came across. I meant no disregard to the character or reputations of these referees. My comments came out of the frustration of a very disappointing and tough loss.”

Now to see where they get him with all of the referees. First the Garretson run-in, now this.

“I don’t think they have it out for me,” Van Exel said. “A lot of people might think differently. . . . A lot of people I know feel I get the short end of the stick not getting calls. I just say it’s part of the game.”

So he doesn’t feel that, officials being human, this will do him in that much more.

“Not really. I haven’t been getting calls anyway. It’s not like I go to the free-throw line two or three times a game. I probably go point-seven times a game.”

He actually goes 2 1/2 times a game. Some ref should have bet him.