Inside Basketball's Worst Ejections

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Now obviously when some players take a certain things too far, they deserve to get ejected. But when a player gets ejected for laughing on the bench, you know the rest are just being petty. That's not even the worst of it. Players around the league have come up with rituals, handshakes, and celebrations that have gone viral. But a gesture by Tristan Thompson, apparently went too far. The age-old sporty butt slap is a move used by a lot of teams as generally a friendly gesture. So it would be hard to think of a scenario where an NBA player would be ejected for it. But that happened recently with Tristan Thompson in a matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Memphis Grizzlies. Former teammates Jay Crowder and Tristan Thompson both got in technical fouls after a heated exchange between the two in the first quarter. Crowder knocked into Thompson attempting to bait the charge. However, Thompson got up and it seemed like they talked a little bit back and forth, enough to where the officials felt it needed the tech for both of them. Thompson would say the first tech was just competitive jarring, nothing negative. Just got a tech for being a former teammates. Guess you can't talk to your former teammates anymore. Thompson and Crowder had been teammates in the Cavs in the 2017-2018 season before Crowder was traded to the Utah Jazz and then would eventually end up with the Grizzlies. Toward the end of the third quarter, Thompson was up for a free throw and after switching the first, Crowder passed by Thompson to reposition. When he was walking past, Thompson tapped him on the butt. The official conducting the free throw actually let the jester slip, but the infamous Kevin Mauer, hockishly spectating from the sidelines, didn't see it this way. An attack was called on Thompson, and before he could even shoot his second free throw, he was ejected from the game. Kevin Mauer called the jester a physical taunt, the slap of the backside of Jay Crowder. Crowder did not say one word during that incident, nor did he do anything unsportsmanlike that would have warranted his second technical foul. When Thompson was asked to explain the incident, he said, Former teammate of mine, so we got a history, and it was just a little competitive spirit. They might have taken it the wrong way, probably because they forgot that. I don't know. We were teammates for like half the year, so I felt like playing anyone else, like if I was playing Kyrie Irving or something like that, same thing. They teched us. I'm definitely calling the Players Association to appeal that one. 1000%. With Tim Duncan usually being on the quieter side, he let his emotions go one night when he got into an unusual argument with the ref, which led to him being ejected. The Spurs were facing the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006-2007 NBA season, when Duncan was given his first tech of the game with 2.2 left in the third quarter for arguing with ref Joey Crawford about an offensive foul. While the tech was being argued by fellow Spurs players and staff, there was nothing out of the ordinary, even by today's standards. Now with Duncan now on the bench just a minute following the first tech, Duncan received another tech after allegedly badmouthing Crawford, which then prompted his ejection. However, it was soon found out after that it was Crawford that instigated the exchange from the bench when he asked Duncan if he wanted to fight. Duncan responded with a smile, which then led to his second tech and then ejection. Justice was served, however. Crawford resided for improper conduct, and he was suspended indefinitely by the NBA commissioner, David Stern, who said, Especially in light of the similar prior actions by this official, a significant suspension is warranted. Although Joey is consistently rated as one of our top referees, he must be held accountable for his actions on the floor, and we will have further discussions with him following the season to be sure that he understands his responsibilities. At the time, Crawford was on his 31st season with the NBA as an official, and he'd been a ref for over 2,000 regular season games. He responded to the actions taken against him by stating, If my player doesn't think that was acceptable, I have a problem. This wasn't Crawford's first time in trouble with David Stern. In a 2003 Western Conference Finals game against none other than the Mavericks, Crawford called 4 technical fouls in the first 10 minutes. Except during this incident, he dished out ejections on coach Don Nielsen and assistant coach Del Harris. Stern warned Crawford after the incident saying that if he repeated those actions, the consequences would be severe. Following that incident with Duncan, there was some poetic justice served as well. Crawford broke what would have been his 21st season in a row, officiating a playoff series due to the suspension. Duncan went on to win a ring that same season. The suspension was eventually lifted from Crawford who retired in 2015 In 2012, interviewed with Crawford, he referred to the incident as a life-changing situation, stating, the Duncan thing probably changed my life. It was just come to the realization that maybe the way you've been doing things is not the proper way, and you have to regroup, not only on the court, but off the court. I've seen a sports psychologist before that, but after, I saw him a lot more. It gave me a new perspective. Tracy McGrady being known for staying under the radar when it comes to controversy or any altercations, he let his feet do the talking one night, and it got him thrown out of the game. In a 2003-2004 regular season game, where the Denver Nuggets were playing against McGrady's Orlando Magic, we learned that McGrady could have also had a career in football, but he punted the ball into the crowd, not once, but twice. Now you think McGrady should have been in a good mood? As earlier in the game at just 24 years old, he reached the 10,000 point milestone, making him the second NBA player to do so since his longtime friend, Kobe Bryant. With the game at 56 to 57 favoring the Nuggets, Tracy was able to start a fast break following a steal from Carmelo Anthony as he rushed the ball up the court. But McGrady's layup was blocked by Denver's Chris Anderson, and McGrady argued to the refs that there should have been a goal-tending call, and when he kept pushing, he was called for a technical foul. Not irritated with the call, McGrady walked from the ref and punted the ball into the Orlando crowd. As he continued to walk away from teammates trying to cool down, the same ball is thrown from the fans back into McGrady's view. This gave him the opportunity to break free from a fellow teammate and punt the ball one last time in front of a huddle of officials, who then proceeded to punt him out of the game. McGrady would later claim that his actions were to get his team riled up when he said, I could care less about 10,000 points. I was frustrated. So I had to get us going some way. 10,000. That's a lot of money. I have to get myself another autograph signed.