Rick Carlisle was angry Wednesday night for a more serious reason than the Mavericks' 102-96 loss to the Pistons. According to the Dallas coach, referee David Jones entered the team's huddle in the third quarter specifically to bait guard Deron Williams into a technical foul.
"For the first time in a 33-year NBA career, I saw a referee make a point of going out of his way and walking into our huddle and baiting one of our guys into getting a technical," Carlisle said Wednesday night, via ESPN. "I've never seen anything like that in my years in this league. I don't see how that can ever be excusable."
MORE: Top 25 active coaches across American sports
However, Jones reached out to Carlisle to apologize for his actions Thursday, which the coach accepted.
"With the league's permission, David Jones contacted me today to apologize for the situation that developed with Deron Williams last night," Carlisle said, via SportsDay. "I accepted his apology and told him that I now consider this matter in the past."
Jones approached the Maverick's huddle during a timeout, where he said something to Williams. Whatever Jones said did not sit well with Williams, who took a couple of steps towards Jones and said, "What's up?"
That's when Williams was issued the technical, and Reggie Jackson went to the free throw line, where he missed his shot.
Carlisle didn't go into the exact exchange between Jones and Williams, but he was adamant the baiting was intentional.
"Went out of his way," Carlisle said. "Could have walked away, made a point out of going back. I said, 'Hey, I got it. I got it. Let it go.' He goes, 'No,' and he walked back essentially into our huddle, and he baited Deron Williams into getting a technical.
"I don't think that that's right. I don't think that that's right. An official's job is to defuse the situation, not to blow it up. The referee that we're talking about is an experienced guy, and I've never seen anything like this."
Williams refused to comment on the incident.
"I made a decision about 10 years [ago] in my career that I wasn't going to comment about officials," Williams said. "Save my money. I already got a technical. That's money right there, so I'm not going to comment any further and risk any more money."