Damn, another night, another valiant effort by the Raptors against a quality team, and yet another crushing loss. This season has been nothing but frustration, and the 1-3 road trip to top it off has emotions running higher than Drake’s stage.

But Fred VanVleet wasn’t going to take it lying down. After the Raptors’ 108-100 loss to the Clippers on Wednesday night, the point guard made it clear he’d had enough of the officiating.

“I don’t mind, I’ll take a fine, I don’t really care,” VanVleet said, before launching into a full-on evisceration of referee Ben Taylor and the NBA’s officiating in general. It was a diatribe so scathing, you won’t hear anything like it again.

“I thought Ben Taylor was f*g terrible tonight,” VanVleet began. “I think that most nights, you know out of the three [referees] there’s one or two that just f–k the game up. It’s been like that a couple of games in a row. Denver was tough, obviously.”

The context is key here. Just two nights prior, the Raptors suffered a gut-wrenching last-minute loss to the Denver Nuggets, thanks to a number of questionable calls that went against them. The frustration was still palpable when they faced the Clippers.

Against Los Angeles, the Raptors had more field goal attempts, offensive rebounds, fewer turnovers, and made more threes than the Clippers, but still lost. Part of the reason was the discrepancy in free throws. The Clippers got to the line 31 times compared to just 14 for the Raptors.

Every game matters for the Raptors at this point, and this loss dropped them to ninth place in the standings, a game-and-a-half behind eighth-place Atlanta, and just half a game ahead of tenth-place Washington.

VanVleet’s gripe was with a technical foul he received in the third quarter, which he felt was unwarranted. “You come out tonight, competing pretty hard and I get a bulls–t tech that changes the whole dynamic of the game, changed the whole flow of the game,” he said.

Did the game turn at that moment? It’s hard to say, but the Raptors did go on an 8-2 run right after the call. However, the Clippers responded with a 13-2 run over the next three minutes, during which only the Raptors got to the line, ironically.

But the real turning point came in the fourth quarter, when Kawhi Leonard took over. The former Raptor, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, has been playing some of the best basketball of his career lately. He showed why he’s still one of the best in the league, lifting the Clippers over the finish line with his game-determining plays.

Raptors head coach Nick Nurse had few complaints about his team’s defence, except for a few straight line drives by Leonard. “Take those four or five straight line drives out of there, and then I think it looks really good,” he said.

At the end of the day, the Raptors can blame the officiating, the free-throw disparity, or the missed opportunities. But the fact remains that they need to start winning if they want to make the playoffs. It’s do-or-die time, and they need to bring the heat.

Fred VanVleet Biography

Fred VanVleet is a professional basketball player from the United States who currently plays for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born on February 25, 1994, in Rockford, Illinois, and attended Auburn High School in his hometown.

VanVleet played college basketball at Wichita State University from 2012 to 2016. During his time at Wichita State, he was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year twice and was part of the team that reached the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in 2013.

After going undrafted in the 2016 NBA draft, VanVleet signed with the Raptors’ Summer League team and impressed enough to earn a spot on the team’s regular-season roster. He spent his first season splitting time between the Raptors and their NBA G League affiliate, Raptors 905.

In the following years, VanVleet emerged as a key player for the Raptors, particularly during the team’s championship run in the 2018-19 season. He had a memorable performance in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, scoring 22 points and helping the Raptors win their first championship in franchise history.

VanVleet has since established himself as one of the best point guards in the league, known for his tenacious defense, sharpshooting, and leadership on and off the court. He has been named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team and was a finalist for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award in 2020.

Off the court, VanVleet is known for his philanthropic work, particularly in his hometown of Rockford. He established the “FVV Shop” in downtown Rockford to support local businesses and has donated to various community initiatives, including a scholarship fund for students in the Rockford Public Schools district.