NBA: League fines Bulls' Noah for berating refs

The NBA punished Joakim Noah for his outburst during Monday night's (Tuesday, PHL time) game against the Sacramento Kings, fining the Chicago Bulls center $15,000 for verbally abusing the officials in the Bulls' 99-70 loss in Sleep Train Arena.

Noah directed a profanity-filled tirade at the referees after he received a second technical foul and automatic ejection in the third quarter. He pointed at each official and shouted an expletive before leaving the floor.

After the game, Noah said he was sorry.

"I'm really disappointed," Noah said. "I shouldn't have acted that way. I apologize. I'm sorry to all three referees out there. They're out there trying to do their jobs, and I should never have said the things that I said."

Noah was reacting to a foul call when the second technical was whistled on him just minutes after he picked up the first technical.

"Yeah, I think I was just frustrated with the game," he said, according to ESPN.com. "You gotta give Sacramento a lot of credit. They played really well, they deserve to win and we've got to step it up, but I think I was just frustrated with the way the game was going.

"I was frustrated with the call, but it doesn't give me the right to do what I did. I deserved to get ejected, and it was just a bad decision on my part."

Noah finished with four points and four rebounds in 18:51. - Reuters