Indiana Pacers star Bennedict Mathurin was ejected from the Pacer’s 127-117 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night. Mathurin received 2 technical fouls for bumping a female ref after a foul call. He was ejected from the game late in the 4th quarter after he was called for a foul on Evan Mobley.
The 6-ft-6, 22-year-old guard from Canada was outraged at the call made by referee Natalie Sago.
Mathurin clapped his hands in Sago’s face and called her a “stupid b*tch” before bumping her as she walked away from him.
Bennedict Mathurin gets ejected after bumping referee Natalie Sago! pic.twitter.com/XqvBJNJFqn
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 15, 2025
NBA players aren’t the only ones complaining about the female refs. NBA fans took to social media to argue that female referee’s often get calls wrong. Sago and another female ref, Jenna Schroeder, were singled out as the 2 worst refs in the league.
76ers star Joel Embiid was ejected from a game in December for threatening Schroeder.
NBA fans also complain that the new crop of young female referees are not well-trained and they throw the players off their game.
The problem has gotten so out of hand that NBA officials are considering not using female refs during the NBA playoffs or the Finals.
Read some of the comments from a manosphere board below.
“He wrong but women shouldn’t be there still.”
“This is why women shouldn’t be reffin men…that was dumb on his part anyway it goes though.”
“I been saying FOREVER that women should not be allowed to officiate or coach men’s sports.”
“We need to get female referees out of male sports.”
“This would make sense if male refs wasn’t tarnishing the game more than her. Y’all need to let that misogyny out ya heart.”
