Youth basketball coach fired after throttling referee (VIDEO)
An Oakland-area basketball coach who grabbed a referee by the neck during a match has been fired by his under-10s team.
The incident occurred at the Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, California, on Saturday when the former Cavs Youth Basketball under-10s team leader disagreed with the official on a call.
In scenes that went viral and have been viewed over 3 million times, the man put his hands around the referee's neck before another official appeared to punch the coach on the right side of the head once others failed to restrain him.
As explained by the Cavs organization's founder Darryl McDonald to TMZ, the coach was dismissed on Sunday following a "thorough investigation" after immediately being suspended.
Lawd Jesus this is what we doing now days? Bruhhhhh did y’all find ol boys glasses tho pic.twitter.com/Tv8eMNnrDe
— EGB Hoops (@egbhoops) January 30, 2022
"It was unfortunate," McDonald said of the outburst, which was preceded by the coach receiving two technical fouls and came at the conclusion of a verbal altercation.
"Our program has been around for over 30 years and before it even went viral, the coach was no longer part of our program.
"It's completely unacceptable to behave that way in front of our youth," he continued. "There's no excuse, I don't care what someone says to you.
"You have to find a better way to handle that particular situation," McDonald insisted.
According to McDonald, it doesn't seem that anyone was seriously injured as a result of the fracas which saw the referee put his hands around the coach's neck too as a form of defense.
McDonald doesn't know if any criminal charges are being pursued, and the coach hasn't responded to an approach for comment from TMZ, but the violent incident is just one of the latest to blemish American youth sports.
Last November, a girl later revealed to be the daughter of ex-NBA star Corey Benjamin was captured sucker-punching a much smaller 15-year-old rival in Garden Grove, also in California, who was left with a bruised neck and concussion.
As ex-Chicago Bulls guard Benjamin said he was "shocked and disappointed" by his daughter’s behavior, her mother Latira Shonty Hunt was charged with one count each of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and battery for allegedly provoking the assault by saying "you better hit her for that" – as heard on another viral clip – and could face a year behind bars.
Later that month, in Iowa, a high school player was arrested for brutally sucker-punching a rival during ceremonial handshakes after his Carlisle High School Wildcats were beaten 72-47 by the Nevada High School Cubs.
First delivering a blow to the stomach, the boy then added a second punch that laid his victim out cold and was wrestled to the ground.
As per attacks on referees, however, April brought similar footage to the Oakland area incident when a spectator rushed onto the court as an Indiana girls travel basketball game was being played and body-slammed its official to the ground.
