Paul George has been critical of the refs throughout his career, and after going to the line just once against the Bulls on Monday night, the All-Star forward is at it again.
"Since I've been in this jersey we've always fought this battle," George said about the lack of calls, via ESPN. "Ever since I've been playing, ever since I've been in this jersey we've fought this battle. Maybe the league has teams they like so they can give them the benefit of the doubt. We're the little brother of the league. We're definitely the little brother of the league."
MORE: NBA cites two ref mistakes that helped Cavs in win over Warriors
George has donated to the "Whine About Refs Foundation" multiple times. During the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat he paid $25,000 after making "home cooking" comments, he was fined $10,000 in 2015 for simply saying "there were a lot of bad calls," and he was fined again in 2015 (this time for $35,000) for cursing about the refs on live television.
There was also the time in early 2014 when he tweeted a message to commissioner Adam Silver.
AS clean house on them stripes! #Terrible
— Paul George (@Yg_Trece) February 2, 2014
"I've been fined multiple times," George added Monday. "I've been vocal to the point where the league issues [a statement], 'Hey, we missed a call. Hey, we missed that.' Officials do it during games [saying], 'I missed that call, I missed this call. We're sorry. We're sorry.' It's getting repetitive. They see it, they know what's going on. They know what's a foul. They know what's not a foul. It comes down from somewhere else how these games are going, I believe."
MORE: George Karl says the NBA has a steroid problem
While we've evidenced George's past criticisms toward the officials, these latest comments appear to be the harshest. Saying "maybe the league has teams they like" and "it comes down from somewhere else how these games are going" is basically alleging collusion within the league.
We're not sure how hard the NBA will come down on George, but the league takes criticism toward its officials seriously. Mavs owner Mark Cuban was once fined $500,000 (the largest ever for a single person) for ''his repeated public criticism of NBA officiating."
