Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah offered a quick apology to an NBA official on Sunday after after he was ejected from his teams Saturday night game for throwing a basketball at the official.
Noah is not expected to receive a suspension for his action according to a league source.
Apologizing for his quick reaction to the referee’s call Noah said:
“That was wrong. I was frustrated at the call and I overreacted.”
Noah then added:
“I just feel bad for what happened. I just want to apologize to the ref for coming at him like that. It was wrong of me; I was just frustrated and I just hope he reads this and accepts my apology.”
The incident occurred with 1:28 remaining in the second quarter, Noah was called on a foul and than almost instantly given a technical foul. Short after that call Noah threw the ball towards Collins at which point he was whistled for a second technical foul.
After the game Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau talked with his young center to discuss the incident and according to Thibodeau the situation has been resolved and there will be no further public discussion regarding the incident.
“We handle that stuff internally,” Thibodeau revealed, “It was some frustration on his part, but he’ll be fine.”
While Joakim Noah may not be suspended for throwing a basketball at a referee he could still be fined for his actions if the league decides to hand down a penalty to the young center.