Video: What did Chris Paul say about female NBA referee Lauren Holtkamp?

Los Angeles Clippers All-Star point guard Chris Paul is under fire for his comments regarding female NBA referee Lauren Holtkamp.

“I think we have to show better composure, but at the same time, some of [the technical fouls] were ridiculous,” Paul said after the Clippers fell to the Cavaliers Thursday, 105-94 . “The tech that I get right there was ridiculous. I don’t care what nobody says, I don’t care what she says; that’s terrible. There’s no way that can be a tech. We try to get the ball out fast every time down the court, and when we did that, she said, ‘Uh-uh.’ I said, ‘Why, uh-uh?’ And she gave me a tech … That’s ridiculous. If that’s the case, this might not be for her.”

​The NBA referees union slammed Paul for his comments on Friday.

“The NBRA has carefully reviewed the calls made by Lauren Holtkamp and deems them fully justified,” NBRA general counsel Lee Seham said in a statement. “Furthermore, the NBRA deplores the personal and unprofessional comments made by Chris Paul. She belongs.”

Conversely, NBA Players’ Association Director Michele Roberts – a female – defended Paul Friday.

“Without hesitation, the Players Association stands firmly behind Chris, whose competitiveness may only be exceeded by the strength of his values and his conviction,” Roberts said in a statement.

The 2014-15 season is Holtkamp’s first in the NBA. Holtkamp is one of two current female NBA refs, the other being Violet Palmer.

In 2007, Boston Celtics radio analyst and former player Cedric Maxwell received criticism for seemingly sexist remarks made toward Palmer.

“Go in there and make me some bacon and eggs would ya? Ahhhhhh!,” Maxwell said, as he attempted to imitate longtime Celtics TV analyst Tommy Heinsohn.

Maxwell apologized for his comments two days later.

“If I said anything that might have been insensitive or sexist in any way, then I apologize because she worked extremely hard to get where she is now, end of quote,” Maxwell said on air.