Rockets owner Leslie Alexander fined by NBA for confronting ref mid-play

The NBA has fined Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander $100,000 “for confronting a referee during live game action,” the league announced Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the incident.

On the final possession of the first quarter of Tuesday night’s Game 5 between the Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder, Alexander left his courtside seat and walked down the sideline toward referee Bill Kennedy. He said something to Kennedy before returning to his seat:

Although the ball was live when Alexander confronted Kennedy, the interaction didn’t really interfere with play. Russell Westbrook was holding the ball for the final shot of the quarter. Some fans behind Alexander cheered as he returned to his seat. There weren’t any particularly egregious calls or missed calls in the first quarter, but Alexander clearly wasn’t happy.

The NBA announced later Tuesday night that it was investigating the incident. The investigation likely didn’t require much detective work, and resulted in Wednesday’s fine.

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It’s unclear what exactly Alexander said to Kennedy, though Kennedy didn’t really appear to react aside from turning his head. The NBA reportedly turned down a reporter’s request to talk to Kennedy about the incident:

Alexander reportedly said he would not be addressing the incident either, but did tell ESPN that he was “upset, really upset.”

Alexander isn’t the first owner to complain to a referee during a game. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban regularly goes at officials, and has a laundry list of fines to his name.

The Rockets beat the Thunder, 105-99, to close out their best-of-seven series in five games.