Game 3 between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the San Antonio Spurs saw a heated moment between Tony Brothers and Chris Finch, drawing some sharp remarks from NBA fans.

Just after the match had finished, match official Tony Brothers conferred with the Timberwolves' head coach, Chris Finch. It was so intense that the Timberwolves players had to intervene.

Finch decried Brothers’ reaction on the basketball court and called the referee out for his “unprofessional” behavior. 

"I'm not sure I've seen players hold a referee back from their head coach before...," he said. Just when a reporter started asking Finch about the incident, the head coach cut in: "Pretty unprofessional, huh?"

The incident took place in the fourth quarter. The Timberwolves were trailing by 102-100 with just over five minutes remaining in the game.

Finch apparently asked for a timeout multiple times before Brothers finally called it. During the timeout, both Finch and Brothers went at each other in a viral interaction. 

"I wanted the timeout. I had called it 3 seconds earlier and I wanted the timeout," Finch said. "I said 'I want my 3 seconds back,' ... because he clearly heard me. He looked my way, ignored me, went on with the play ... almost cost us a turnover. So, and then, you know, he lost it.”

Finch said that when Brothers charged towards him, he was asking the referee about the next play. 

"Then I went to ask him where the ball was going to be taken in and he screamed at me for that. So, completely unprofessional behavior by him."

The incident immediately went viral on social media, prompting reactions from fans.

Fans react to Tony Brothers' interaction with Chris Finch

The incident of a referee getting aggressive towards a coach is unprecedented.

“Yo, he f****** pressed Finch. Never seen a ref do that before,” a fan posted.

Some fans even called for severe action against Tony Brothers from the league for losing his cool.

“That should be a fireable offense from Tony, he’s been by far the worst ref in the nba for years now even worse than that James Williams dude and Scott Foster, I said it,’ a fan wrote.

In a time when the referees are facing criticism from fans and players across the league, a fan said, “We need new refs in this league there so bad.”

However, some fans applauded Bothers for not slapping a technical on Finch and continuing with the intensity of the game.

“Ngl, my Spurs fandom was screaming for T right here, but also my inner hoop side gives major props to the Ref just letting it fly unfiltered. What a moment,” a fan said.

Do you think Tony Brothers deserves punishment from the NBA for his actions? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Nandjee Ranjan

Edited by

Koushik Biswas