Rockets star’s explicit outburst toward female ref sparks apology

Houston Rockets star Alperen Sengun was ejected from Wednesday night’s blowout loss to the Boston Celtics after he appeared to call a female referee a “b—h” during the game.

Sengun appeared to use the explicit words at Jenna Reneau after she said the ball went off him and out of bounds while he tried to establish position in the paint. He addressed the remarks after the Rockets’ win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.

He said he apologized to Reneau.

“Sometimes, you can’t control yourself, but I should have known better,” he said. “But I fixed it, and then I went to the locker room and I apologized. I shake (her) hand and said that would never happen again. It just happened in the heat of the moment and she understood, and it was good by both ends.”

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It’s unclear if Sengun will face discipline from the league. On Sunday, he was announced as an All-Star Game replacement. He and Kevin Durant were the Houston players selected for the game.

He’s started 44 games this season for Houston and is averaging 20.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals and a block per game. It will be the second time in his career that he will be an All-Star.

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The Rockets are 32-19 this season after the 112-106 win over the Thunder. Houston is in fourth place in the Western Conference, trailing the Denver Nuggets by one game for third place and Oklahoma City by seven games.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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