Ethan Miller/Getty Images(LAS VEGAS) — A referee was replaced midgame on Friday after she gave LaVar Ball a technical foul and he threatened to pull his team from the Adidas Summer Championships if she was not removed.
“She got a vendetta because she’s a woman who’s trying to act — I get that she’s trying to break into the refereeing thing,” Ball said to ESPN after the game in Las Vegas. “But just giving techs and calling fouls, that’s no way to do it.
“Don’t try to step in the lane,” Ball said to ESPN. “She needs to stay in her lane because she ain’t ready for this. [Ref] the little kids first and then come up. Because she ain’t did enough. She ain’t got enough on her résumé, I could tell.”
The identity of the woman was not released, but according to ESPN she was a Division I women’s basketball official.
A source told ESPN that event officials with Adidas had pressured referees at the event to avoid calling technical fouls against Ball so they could “keep him in the building.” The game ended early when Ball received his second technical foul and was ejected by a separate referee.
Adidas said it was their decision to remove the woman referee.
“There was some miscommunication,” said Chris Rivers, Adidas director of global basketball sports marketing, according to ESPN. “The NBA don’t put certain people with certain guys, either. If there’s a history or miscommunication, that happens.”
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