dallasnews: Jerry Stackhouse paid the price for venting on veteran referee Dick Bavetta. But it wasn't near the penalty that San Antonio's Robert Horry paid for baring his teeth.
Stackhouse was fined $30,000 by the NBA office Friday for the harsh critique of Bavetta after the Mavericks' 98-89 loss to the Spurs on Thursday in San Antonio. Stackhouse also had a personal foul upgraded to a flagrant-1 foul.
Stackhouse accepted his penalty without remorse.
"It doesn't change my opinion," he said before Friday's game against Charlotte.
Horry, meanwhile, was suspended for two games without pay, which will cost him more than $66,000, for making improper contact with a referee and for actions against Stackhouse, including placing his mouth on Stackhouse's arm while the two were entangled under the basket.
Horry didn't chomp down on Stackhouse, but the possibility that there could have been a bite played a role in the league's penalties. Stackhouse and Horry locked arms with just over a minute left in the game, and both received technical fouls from Bavetta. Stackhouse said he was responding to what he thought was a cheap forearm into his back by Horry.
"They must have seen a little more than what I thought it was," Stackhouse said. "I was just telling [Horry] we don't really want to do this.
"I didn't see him try to bite me. But that's what they got tape for."
That was a separate incident than what Stackhouse was fined for. In his postgame interview, Stackhouse had unloaded on Bavetta.
"It's tough to come on the road in this environment and have to play against the refs, too," he said. "[Expletive] Dick Bavetta. I'm tired of his [expletive]. It's like the game is about him. He just needs to call the game and call the fouls. It's like he didn't [do so] because we were up, and he wanted to see them [the Spurs] come back."
Stackhouse said he was only expecting about a $7,500 fine for his comments, which also included an accusation that Bavetta was grandstanding during the game.
