Luka's ejection

[-Spyda-]

Fire that ref.

[California Gold]

This tech reminded me of that time that Duncan got ejected on the bench by Joey Crawford.

[LegendOfSalmons]

Whole lotta whining in here. “Boo hoo, the refs are out to get the Lakers because Luka got ejected!” all over one game where the Lakers had a 37-20 free throw advantage. Seriously? Miss us with that nonsense. Give it a rest and take the whining elsewhere. It’s so rare for the Lakers to be on the wrong end of such a bad call that when it finally happens, the fans act like the sky is falling, and even other fans are taken aback. The second the refs don’t call things their way, the fans throw a meltdown like it’s the apocalypse and I bet they'll hold onto this as justificaiton that they're not favored by the refs.

[iggymcfrack]

OMFG, are people really bitching about this? Luka’s the whiniest prick in the league. He should have been thrown out of about 100 more games than he has been. If he got the wrong end of the stick once, he deserves it. Refs were obviously giving the Lakers the better end of the whistle most of the night. Maybe they get sick of getting shown up and yelled at by the team who’s gotten the benefit of the doubt on the calls.

[Dez]

Right or wrong it's pretty simple, don't respond to fans.

He put himself in that situation and unfortunately it went the wrong way for him.

I like Luka but dude just has to play, he's got to be smarter than that.

[CobraCommander]

Lakers broadcast said this ref told them to give condolences to his friend who recently died, so he probably wasn't in the right headspace. But if you're clearly wrong the officiating crew should be able to correct you on techs. I don't think I've ever seen a ref say "my bad" on a tech the way they overturn out of bounds plays.

so if someone curses you out at work you gonna just be cool with that?

the refs are like cops....they SHOULDNT abuse their power...but curse a cop out during a traffic stop if you want...doesnt matter the country or your status....you "mess" around and find out....luka messing around and finding out...

this tech wasn't even fair but his reputation is getting him in trouble...

[baller16]

Man I miss Stern, Silver would never:

Joey Crawford was fined $100K and suspended for the rest of the season, but he also revealed that then-NBA commissioner David Stern made him seek therapy after the ejection. Via ESPN

Watch on YouTube

[ITYSL]

After a back and forth with the ref, Draymond aggressively claps in the ref's face. No tech.

Read on Twitter

Luka smiles or laughs - tech. Cade points out that the ref made a mistake in not lining players up for a FT - tech. Tatum has a single clap away from the ref - tech. Luka does complain a lot, but this is just kind of ridiculous. No one should be ejected for those 2 plays.

[-Luke-]

Nice foul…

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=QvEzK5sPZB2bJ5j4baboWw

The ref is standing right next to them, nothing blocking his sight. What the hell did he see there?

[BliscoSantos]

the officiating in the NBA has been terrible for quite some time and I'm affraid it's only gonna get worse with the league backing up gambling...the refs have too much power and a huge ego,they call the game the way they feel/want... there's no consistency,rules aren't the same for everybody....some players get T'd up for nothing,others can do what they want..some get called for travelling,others don't...some get fouled and get no call, others flop and get a call

It's been going on for a Long time... there's a lot of bad calls(like obvious bad calls) in the games now,maybe that's why the rating went down each year....nobody comes to games to see the three "zebras" run the show

[Petergrifindor]

They ruined a beautiful game.

It really pissed me off, staying awake until 4 am to see the game, and then this happening.

[LuDux1]

I guess ref had one glass of Slovenian wine too much

[robbie84]

The NBA will give the ref a serious closed door education on this one.
Stuff like this infuriates fans and is absolutely awful for marketing purposes.

But yeah, the NBA will be all over this with making sure the ref doesn't do it again. Regardless of what they say publicly.

[BliscoSantos]

The NBA will give the ref a serious closed door education on this one.
Stuff like this infuriates fans and is absolutely awful for marketing purposes.

But yeah, the NBA will be all over this with making sure the ref doesn't do it again. Regardless of what they say publicly.

I doubt they'll do anything about it...there will be no consequences for the ref....they'll probably say he just made a mistake,was emotional because his friend passed away....and in that case he never should have been allowed to ref a game...he should have been allowed to sit this one out, it's completely understandable reason not to go to work

[leolozon]

OMFG, are people really bitching about this? Luka’s the whiniest prick in the league. He should have been thrown out of about 100 more games than he has been. If he got the wrong end of the stick once, he deserves it. Refs were obviously giving the Lakers the better end of the whistle most of the night. Maybe they get sick of getting shown up and yelled at by the team who’s gotten the benefit of the doubt on the calls.

I don’t think the Lakers where getting the better whistle at all. OkC were fouling more. Their defense is about playing aggressive and hoping the refs don’t call everything. Your premise is wrong.

Also, the notion that someone should be wrongfully punished because they are whiny is weird. Do you think that way in the real world? You think that someone who doesn’t commit a crime, should get arrested because he’s too often on the line of what is illegal?

Fact is, it isn’t clear what is a tech or not and it depends on the sensitivity of the ref any given day. Make it clear and then you’ll be able to say that Luka does something that isn’t accepted by the league. I do think that he complains too much, BUT not for those two techs.

[MoneyTalks41890]

Cussing at the ref is a tech.

The problem is they don’t call it often enough.

But the solution isn’t to stop enforcing the rules.

Mark had a good take.

Read on Twitter

[Archx]

Just going to copy reddit quote which sums it up nicely.

It's hilarious the players get all the blame for "not caring" about the All Star game but when they show emotions on games THAT ACTUALLY MATTER you get **** like this. What a joke.

Luka didn't curse out the ref and ref could have said "my bad" and rescinded the call, because they have done it in the past. But obviously we know NBA refs are one of the worst, so

[bbms]

ejections like these do nothing to players that truly abuse the technical fouls system gain sportive edge, like draymond green (who god knows why is still allowed to play in the nba), who always finds someone to strike and take down from a series in exchange for a few free throws.

luka is annoying, he saves the energy he should use to run to play defense by complaining to refs, but this is far from nba's worst issue

[MoneyTalks41890]

According to the refs he did it both times. If you want to say he was talking to the fan the ref was right in his line of sight and Luka was stupid for that.

Again the problem is that this should get called more. Also two techs shouldn’t be a toss.

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[CloudWalker]

Cussing at the ref is a tech.

The problem is they don’t call it often enough.

But the solution isn’t to stop enforcing the rules.

Mark had a good take.

Read on Twitter

Luka's words were directed at a fan who was trash talking him, not the ref(talking about the second tech). He always does this; fans trash talk him, he then scores, stares at them, talks back etc. It's really nothing new, he loves interacting with fans. And it's fun to watch especially once you know what he's doing. He has never gotten a tech for it etiher until now from what I can remember.