Chris Goulding accused of 'flopping' as Hawks' coach unleashes at 'incompetent' officials

Justin Tatum has claimed he is not treated in the same respect as rival coaches after the Hawks suffered a narrow defeat to Melbourne United.

The Illawarra Hawks coach was whacked with a technical foul in the final quarter of the clash over comments he made in regard to a contentious foul call.

Tatum admitted to telling a referee he made a "terrible call" when United's Chris Goulding was favoured in a video referee decision over a collision with Hawks' Will Hickey in the final seconds of the match.

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The 45-year-old American denied disrespecting officials as tensions began to spill, but believes the incident was evidence of the "incompetence" of the league's officials.

When asked if other NBL coaches should expect to be hit with technical fouls if displaying similar behaviour, Tatum responded: "One hundred percent."

"But it's only going to be me," he continued in his post-match press conference.

"I'm intimidating, I guess my voice is too deep and I'm too tall...

"It's my, you know, because I hear the same coaches say similar things or complain about the same stuff and their leash is a little bit longer.

"I guess I have to be made an example out of."

In a sarcastic tone, Tatum said he was "proud" the match officials had an impact on the game but was disappointed that his side had placed themselves in such an unfavourable position.

Tatum, the father of five-time NBA All-Star Jayson Tatum, accused Goulding of "flopping" in his minimal contact collision with Hickey.

"It was right in front of my face," Tatum said.

"We're just happy that Chris Goulding didn't hurt himself flopping in front of us.

"I'm glad that he's injury free, but at the end of the day the officials at that time unfortunately just made a bad decision, a bad call."

Tatum's accusation was supported by Hawks owner Jared Novelly, who stormed out of the arena following the incident, according to ESPN.

"You can quote me. That was a flop," he told ESPN.

The statement comes just days after South East Melbourne Phoenix owner Romie Chaudhair took a swipe at Goulding.

The latest incident with the star caught the attention of Chaudhair again, who wrote: "Guess I'm not the only one who feels this way about that dude at Melbourne United...'

"What does coach Vickerman have to say now? He said he won't forget what I said, now he has to remember what these guys said too. He got a lot on his mind, I guess," Chaudhair continued on X.

But it was Goulding who got the last laugh in the match, nailing 25 points to collect the man-of-the-match title.