Quote:LAS VEGAS -- LaVar Ball blasted the female referee who gave him a technical foul Friday morning at a basketball tournament.

The technical call on Ball, coach of the Big Baller Brand AAU team, led to the referee being replaced midgame.

"She got a vendetta because she's a woman who's trying to act -- I get that she's trying to break into the refereeing thing," Ball told ESPN after the game. "But just giving techs and calling fouls, that's no way to do it.

"I know what she trying to say: 'Oh I gave him a tech. I'm strong.' That ain't got nothing to do with it. Just call the game. If you're going to be qualified, you better be in shape and you better know the game. And she's bad on both of them. She's not in shape, she's not calling the game right. And she don't understand.

"And now she's trying to make a name for herself, so she's walking around like, 'You know I'm the only woman in here.' Yeah, we get it. I don't care if you're a woman, or a man or whatever, just be good at what you do.

"Don't try to step in the lane. She needs to stay in her lane because she ain't ready for this. [Ref] the little kids first and then come up. Because she ain't did enough. She ain't got enough on her résumé, I could tell."

Ball threatened to pull his team off the court in the first half of Friday morning's Adidas Summer Championships game against Team BBC after receiving the technical foul. Shortly after yelling, "We need to get someone else in here" while pointing to the referee, Ball turned to his team and said, "Let's go." The players began to pick up their bags and walk off the court.

After a long meeting between the coaches, representatives from Adidas and representatives from Court Club Elite, which supplies the officials, the game resumed -- with a different official in place of the one who gave a technical to Ball.

Adidas, which runs the event, said it was their decision to replace the referee.

"There was some miscommunication," said Chris Rivers, Adidas director of global basketball sports marketing. "The NBA don't put certain people with certain guys, either. If there's a history or miscommunication, that happens."

The referee also officiated Big Baller Brand's game Wednesday, when Ball received his first technical foul of the week.

"She came into this game knowing what she was going to do," Ball said Friday. "I knew it, too. I could've told you all if you was to interview me before the game, and I'd say, 'I guarantee you she give me a tech on some BS.' And look what happened. You're just going be known for that, that's all. See where she refs at next week."

The game eventually ended early after Ball received his second technical foul and was ejected. Tournament organizers decided to end the game as opposed to playing the final minutes of Team BBC's 53-43 win. Ball's team plays again Friday night at 11 ET.

The replaced referee, whose name was not given by tournament officials, declined comment. She officiates NCAA Division I women's basketball games.

Former NBA referee Ed Rush, who runs Court Club Elite, denied Ball's vendetta accusation.

"How can you have a history and she [works women's basketball]?" Rush said. "She just arrived here two days ago."

Quote:Before a female referee was replaced on Friday, officials with Adidas had pressured referees at their Summer Championships event in Las Vegas to avoid calling technical fouls against LaVar Ball because of his drawing power and their potential courtship of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, a source told ESPN.

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Ball: Ref who gave me technical isn't qualified

LaVar Ball threatened to pull his Big Baller Brand AAU team off the court on Friday morning after receiving a technical foul, eventually leading to a female referee being replaced midgame.

The source said event officals, supplied by ex-NBA ref Ed Rush's Court Club Elite group, were told to "put three officials on the game who will keep him in the building" whenever LaVar's Big Baller Brand team played this week.

Ball was given a technical by the referee working Friday's game and, after Ball threatened to pull his team off the court -- as he had done in a different tournament last week -- she was removed from the game.

Adidas representatives said it was their decision to replace the referee, who is a Division I women's basketball official, though neither she nor Adidas would provide her name.

"There was some miscommunication," said Chris Rivers, Adidas director of global basketball sports marketing. "The NBA don't put certain people with certain guys, either. If there's a history or miscommunication, that happens."

During Big Baller Brand's win over Play Hard Play Smart on Thursday, Ball told a referee "You're the worst f---ing ref who ever lived," per the source. But the referee did not call a technical foul on Ball because of the strong suggestions from Adidas.

"Under normal circumstances, the sideline behavior, including profanity and sideline antics, would have demanded a technical foul under the category of disrespecting the game," the source said. "However, due to strong messaging [from Adidas] to extend those guidelines in an effort to keep [Ball] in the gym, the officiating crew felt uncomfortable enforcing the technical foul rule for actions that clearly warranted [action]."

Ball's scolding of the female official who was ultimately replaced after calling a technical foul against him Friday morning constituted "continual and prolonged derogatory comments toward the crew and, in particular, her," according to the source.

The female official was "standing up for the integrity of the game" before she was replaced, the source said.

Ball went on a postgame tirade about the referee, saying, "She's trying to make a name for herself, so she's walking around like, 'You know I'm the only woman in here.' Yeah, we get it. I don't care if you're a woman or a man or whatever -- just be good at what you do."

His team was scheduled to play again later Friday night, but tournament officials did not know whether he and the team would show up.