The Cleveland Cavaliers took on the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday and had a 133-129 win. While the best team in the Eastern Conference added another win to their 50-10 record, one of their players felt the officiating wasn’t the best. After the game, backup guard Ty Jerome called out the officiating of the game.
The Cavs were led by De’Andre Hunter, who finished with 32 points and seven rebounds on 55.6% shooting from deep. All-Star big man Evan Mobley also had a great game with his 20 points and eight rebounds. Jerome, who came off the bench, played well for Cleveland.
The guard had 25 points, five rebounds and six assists in 35 minutes of action.
After the game, Jerome had some strong criticism about the officiating. The guard called out a specific referee, Natalie Sago. The NBA player thought Sago had done a terrible job in the Cavs’ game against the Blazers, despite him shooting 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.
“I thought the refs were really bad tonight. Especially Natalie, she was really bad,” Jerome said.
Ty Jerome on the officiating tonight: “I thought the refs were really bad tonight. Especially Natalie, she was really bad.”
— Danny Cunningham (@RealDCunningham) March 3, 2025
After fans saw how Jerome called out a specific referee, they went into a frenzy on X (formerly Twitter).
“He not gonna be able to afford this fine 😂😂😂” a fan is already anticipating Jerome’s punishment.
“called out by name??? omg nba finna make him go missing😭” another fan commented.
“The fine of hell gonna hit him soon lmao,” one fan talked about the player’s potential fine.
The fine of hell gonna hit him soon lmao
— TatumsWrld (@wrldoftatum) March 3, 2025
“Bro’s getting $100k fine within the hour😭”
“No way he called her out by name 😭”
“Ty Jerome making $2.5m/year saying this knowing he’s catching a $25k fine has to tell you something about these refs… Adam Silver do something buddy”
“I’m sure he’ll be fined $50,000 for speaking up.”
I’m sure he’ll be fined $50,000 for speaking up.
— Griffin W. Rains (@GriffinRains89) March 3, 2025
The Cavs shot 30-for-35 from the line, while the Blazers went 31-for-35. The league has not addressed Jerome’s comments yet.
How well has Jerome played for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season?
This season, the Cleveland Cavaliers have played well, winning all of their games. Jerome’s input is one of the primary causes of their performance. The 6-foot-5 guard has contributed significantly to the Cavaliers’ success as Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell’s backup guard.
Jerome has played 55 games, averaging 11.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists on 51.8% shooting from the field. He’s been a reliable shooter from deep, making 44.8% of his 3-pointers. In the last 10 games he’s played, the 27-year-old guard has averaged 13.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
