Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah was not happy about being ejected from his team's game against the Sacramento Kings on Monday night. Following Noah being automatically ejected in the third quarter for picking up his second technical foul, an irate Noah turned to each of the three nearby referees and yelled, "F--- you!" towards them before getting escorted off the court.
The Bulls went on to lose 99-70 as the Kings picked up their first win in eight games, and after cooling off Noah apologized following the game.
"I'm really disappointed." Noah said, according to ESPN. "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 had picked up a technical in the first half and earned his second one in the third quarter after his reaction to a foul call. Noah was apologetic after the game.
"I hope they accept my apology and I hope I can move on from this,'' Noah said via ESPN.
According to ESPN, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said he didn't think that Noah would be facing a suspension while Noah said he wasn't sure if a fine or suspension was coming his way.
"I don't know what's going to happen," the All-Star said per ESPN. "But I just want to apologize, and that's it."
Noah admitted that the Bulls being well on their way to suffering one of their worst losses of the season was a factor that weighed into his frustration towards the referees.
"Yeah, I think I was just frustrated with the game," Noah told ESPN following the game. "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 deserve to get ejected, and it was just a bad decision on my part.'
Thibodeau said that he didn't blame the referees for anything and that he believed his team was playing awfully and his players were the only ones that should take the blame.
"The one thing about this league -- things can change quickly on you," Thibodeau told ESPN. "And they have. So it went from good to bad very quickly. And just as quickly as it has gone from good to bad it can go from bad to good again. We gotta change. We gotta have more urgency. We gotta work our way out of this."
The Bulls visit the Phoenix Suns Tuesday night for the fourth contest in their six-game road trip.
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