Austin Rivers’ ejection on Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers was even softer than Charmin.
The Denver Nuggets guard was tossed in the fourth quarter for an incident with Pacers swingman Lance Stephenson. A minute prior to the ejection, Rivers shoved Stephenson, who was trying to get a steal. The players received double-technicals for the incident.
Perhaps the officials were on high alert for the pair, because Rivers was then ejected for throwing a fake elbow at Stephenson. That’s right, a fake elbow that did not even connect.
Take a look.
Austin Rivers got a tech and was ejected for faking an elbow at Lance Stephenson. pic.twitter.com/oLlV2jAm4W
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 31, 2022
Here is another angle of the truly heinous act.
Austin Rivers got ejected for 'throwing an elbow' in Lance Stephenson's face. Upon replay, Rivers didn't hit Stephenson.
Good or bad call on this ejection? 🤔https://t.co/iq7kCVojq6
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 31, 2022
Referee crew chief Tony Brothers was the one who hit Rivers with the technical foul and subsequent ejection. To make matters even worse, the officials took time to review the incident and still upheld Rivers’ ejection.
The Nuggets held on to win the game 125-118. But that still does not excuse by far the weakest ejection of the entire NBA season, especially for a referee like Brothers who has a long history of making questionable decisions.
