Like an angry driver in I-5 rush hour traffic, San Antonio Spurs center Zach Collins expressed his frustrations toward an official with a common but obscene gesture Friday during San Antonio’s 140-113 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Collins got ejected early in the second quarter for disputing his third foul call of the half. On the sidelines, Collins turned to the ref in response and gave him a quick middle finger.
The NBA took notice and hit Collins on Saturday with a $35,000 fine for the gesture. You can watch the full altercation on YouTube by clicking here. (On second thought, I decided not to embed the video directly into the article because the gesture is in the thumbnail and Blazer’s Edge is generally a family program).
Dating back to his days with the Portland Trail Blazers from 2017 to 2021, Collins was always an intense player who wore his heart on his sleeve. When this writer saw Friday’s flipping of the bird, he immediately thought back to the times Blazers guard CJ McCollum attempted to calm Collins down on the sideline with meditation tactics.
If only McCollum had been there Friday night, Collins might still have an extra $35,000 to his name.