Before Toronto Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet unleashed the NBA equivalent of a fire and brimstone rant against Ben Taylor, most Raptors fans would have known the official as another generic NPC floating in the background. After it, he became Public Enemy No. 1 in Toronto.
Not only did VanVleet bring out some of George Carlin’s Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television to tear into Taylor after a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, but he implied that Taylor has been singling him out and calling more technical fouls on him during their games. Even Stephen A. Smith jumped on the air to support him.
Taylor had assigned VanVleet more than half of the technical fouls he picked up this season, which could lead to someone thinking that the refs have it out for him. VanVleet and his supporters will get at least some degree of closure after the league handed Tayor a very steep punishment.
According to Tom Haberstroh on JD Bunkis’ podcast, Taylor has received a demotion since the VanVleet incident, as he has only been the crew chief once in his last five games. Perhaps the NBA took a closer look at his performance in the wake of VanVleet’s postgame tirade.
"Since that Fred VanVleet rant... the NBA has actually demoted Ben Taylor in his assignments."@tomhaberstroh on how the #NBA has handled the Taylor/VanVleet situation with @JDBunkis.
— Sportsnet 590 The FAN (@FAN590) March 21, 2023
Ben Taylor demoted after Toronto Raptors PG Fred VanVleet’s rant.
VanVleet’s passionate rant ended with a $30,000 hit to the wallet, but that likely won’t impact him as much as the demotion will hurt Taylor. At the risk of beating up on Taylor too harshly, it appears as though VanVleet’s very honest critique was not hyperbolic or unreasonable.
The one-in-five stat stands out, as Taylor was the crew chief in each of the past 12 games he has officiated. VanVleet may have been the most vocal player after Taylor’s tirade, but he is assuredly not the only one who is frustrated by this official’s substandard performances.
Taylor did help officiate Toronto’s home victory against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier this month. Not only did the Raptors manage to win while VanVleet avoided any sort of larger scandal, but Oklahoma City was actually the team who ended up in foul trouble early on.
Fred VanVleet went OFF on referee Ben Taylor and NBA reffing in general in his post-game after the Raptors loss. Haven't heard anything like this. pic.twitter.com/VcMkGTh0k3
— Faizal Khamisa (@FaizalKhamisa) March 9, 2023
The biggest thing that those who criticize officials preach with nonstop vociferousness is the lack of accountability. If Taylor is not doing his job properly, which appears to be the case after the NBA agreed with VanVleet’s assessment, he should not be in such an influential position.