Lakers’ Andrew Bynum is fined $25,000

Andrew Bynum reached another first in his career, though he probably wouldn’t want to do it again.

Bynum, 22, was hit with his first NBA-imposed fine for criticizing referees after the Lakers’ 101-96 loss Wednesday in Dallas.

Bynum was fined $25,000 for saying, “It’s hard to win when it’s five against eight,” a thinly cloaked reference to the judgment of referees Ron Garretson, Michael Smith and Eli Roe.

The Lakers had as many fouls as the Mavericks (20), but Dallas shot 26 free throws to 16 for the Lakers.

Bynum had only two fouls but was irritated with his five turnovers, including three in the fourth quarter (he was called for traveling and had the ball stolen twice).

He had a frustrating second half, collecting only two points and two rebounds to finish with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

He said Friday his reaction was premeditated.

“I knew it was going to happen,” he said. “I decided to say that before the interview because it was ridiculous. . . . I knew they were going to fine me. They tell us we can’t say anything, so . . . “

Will speaking out Wednesday help him in the future?

“I’m not sure,” he said. “I don’t know. Hopefully.”

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, who has received plenty of financial slaps from the NBA over the years, seemed to defend Bynum.

“I have sympathy for his statement,” Jackson said. “I believe that he was trying to speak the truth, but you can’t go over that line. We know that the referees are sacred cows in this league and the NBA is going to punish [criticism]. He learned a lesson that probably is valuable to him.”

Jackson, who might ride referees less than any other NBA coach, even shouldered some of the blame.

“Sometimes you have to stand up for your players and that’s one of the things that I rue, is that perhaps I didn’t stand up for Andrew,” Jackson said. “There were a couple of situations late in the ballgame that really changed that game.”

Jackson typically waits until the playoffs to criticize officials because, “You might be able to twist somebody’s arm to react or recognize something,” he said.

More referees

What other Lakers are in jeopardy of complaining too much about referees’ calls?

None other than reserve guard Sasha Vujacic, at least in games.

“We have a little signal for him when he’s on the court, ‘Zip it up, close your mouth, don’t complain,’ ” Jackson said.

“I think it prejudices officials and he’s got to stay away from that. I think it takes him away from his best play.”

On the move

Kobe Bryant has already passed Reggie Miller, Jerry West, Patrick Ewing and Allen Iverson on the NBA’s career scoring list this season. How many more players can he pass over the Lakers’ final 23 regular-season games?

Bryant is 13th in league history with 25,317 points. If he plays every game and continues to average about 27 points, he’ll pass Alex English (25,613) for 12th but would fall short of John Havlicek (26,395) this season.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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