Brooklyn Nets General Manager Sean Marks was clearly not happy with the officiating during his team's 112-108 Game 4 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers at the Barclays Center on Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday, the NBA announced that Marks has been suspended one game without pay and fined $25,000 for entering the off-limits referee's locker room following Game 4. From the NBA:
"Brooklyn Nets General Manager Sean Marks has been suspended one game without pay and fined $25,000 for entering the Referee Locker Room postgame, it was announced today by Byron Spruell, President, NBA League Operations.
The incident occurred following the Nets' 112-108 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, April 20 at Barclays Center. Marks will serve his suspension Tuesday, April 23 when the Nets and 76ers play Game 5 of their opening round series at Wells Fargo Center."
That wasn't the only punishment the NBA handed out to the Nets' front office. Nets owner Joe Tsai was also fined $35K on Monday night for tweeting support of Marks' decision.
NBA has fined Nets owner $35K for this tweet. https://t.co/b8cpOCmO3g
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 22, 2019
Marks' decision to enter the referee's locker room came following a chippy game between the two teams that saw two players -- Jared Dudley and Jimmy Butler -- ejected for pushing, and another -- Joel Embiid -- given a flagrant foul. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Marks was "livid" after Embiid didn't earn an ejection from the game.
Sources: Nets and GM Sean Marks were livid over belief Embiid’s flagrant 1 fouls in Games 2/4 should’ve been deemed a 2. More than message to league with ref challenge, Marks intended to message his team on how franchise is determined to support way they're competing in series.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 21, 2019
The Nets held a lead for most of the game, but the Sixers ultimately prevailed to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. They will look to extend the series by winning Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Otherwise, Marks will miss his team's last game of the season.