The NBA is catching on to what the kids call "subtweeting" and players may no longer be safe to covertly express their opinions without retribution. Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green learned that the hard way on Tuesday.
After a tough 131-130 overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves last Friday, the Western Conference-leading Warriors were none too pleased with the officiating, especially a foul called on Kevin Durant, which allowed Minnesota's Karl Anthony Towns to hit a game-winning free throw with less than a second left on the clock. Durant and teammate Stephen Curry openly blasted the call during the post-game scrum, with Durant well aware that he might have a fine coming his way (he was right).
But Green protested in cryptic fashion. Later that evening, he posted two separate tweets containing just four letters.
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The first set of initials, the league determined, was likely a reference to Tim Donaghy, an infamous former referee who served prison time for point shaving NBA games. MK, then, reportedly refers Marat Kogut, who whistled Durant for the foul on Towns, which would imply that Green — sarcastically or not — was writing that Kogut was throwing the game on purpose.
This prompted the league to fine Green $35,000 for "making statements on social media which impugned the integrity of NBA officiating." Green's total surpassed both Durant and Curry, proving that honesty might be the more frugal choice, after all.
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