Pacers' Jalen Smith fined $20K after ejection in Orlando, coach Rick Carlisle backs his player

"These guys today have to be themselves. ... I like guys to be animated, it's just got to be channeled the right way and it can't be to the detriment of the team."

One day after receiving a two-technical ejection against the Magic, Jalen Smith has been fined $20,000 by the NBA for directing profane language toward a game official. That game official is Marc Davis, and Smith should know better and he will know better.

In due time.

Like Scott Foster, Davis is not to be bothered and he has a quick trigger on calling technical fouls. Smith absolutely deserved one — but two was excessive. Star players do a lot worse on a nightly basis.

However, Smith is not a star player and is just 21. The 10th overall pick in 2020 has played in 64 NBA games.

The first technical came after he swiped down in the direction of Davis, and you cannot show officials up publicly. He then continued to argue his case after being called for a moving screen at the other end and could be seen shouting “that’s bullshit” at Davis, and then some.

“There was some disagreement going on,” Smith said afterward, and credit to him for both speaking afterward and owning it.

“One thing led to another, I lost my cool, my teammates tried to cool me down and I kind of neglected that. At the end of the day, you learn from your mistakes. I apologized to my teammates for that. I told them that that’s not me, my teammates raised me better than that. My mom’s already texting me, getting in my butt right now.”