Ja Morant received a Tim Duncan-esque ejection from Saturday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Memphis Grizzlies star Morant was tossed in the second quarter by referee Ray Acosta. Morant’s offense? Talking to a fan sitting courtside.
Morant was having a seemingly tame conversation with a female fan as the Thunder shot two free throws. But Acosta deemed the exchange worthy of a technical foul and thus an ejection for Morant (after he had gotten another T shortly beforehand). Both Morant and the fan looked equally dumbfounded by the ejection. As he left the floor, Morant even made a heart gesture to the fan. Take a look.
Here is the moment Ja Morant was ejected from tonight's game. pic.twitter.com/eSm5xb0qvx
— Grizzlies On FanDuel Sports Network (@FDSN_Grizzlies) December 18, 2022
Another surreal moment ensued after Morant had made his way back into the locker room. Morant apparently FaceTimed with his father Tee, who was in attendance at the game, and asked him to tell the fan that the ejection was not her fault. A viral video from the stands showed Tee approaching the fan while holding up the FaceTime call.
Ja Morant was ejected for talking to a fan & then FaceTimed his dad during the game to tell the fan it’s not her fault 😂 pic.twitter.com/ksmCOmWuFS
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) December 18, 2022
Morant and the Grizzlies were down 21 at that point, so perhaps tension had been building between Morant and Acosta over the course of the game (with Acosta potentially looking for a reason to toss Morant). Without Morant in the second half, Memphis mounted a mini-comeback but still lost 115-109.
The All-Star guard Morant can get pretty nasty with his trash talk at times. But based on the reactions of both Morant and the fan, that exchange on Saturday certainly did not seem to warrant such a rapid-fire ejection.
