Chicago Bulls big man Robin Lopez was ejected from his team's matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night. It was a chippy evening, and in the third quarter, tempers flared and a scuffle ensued.
Lopez was hit with his first technical for his role in the altercation with Thunder forward Jerami Grant. A few minutes later, Lopez received his second T for taunting (also Grant), which warranted an automatic ejection.
Following his team's 121-96 loss, Lopez appeared to have cooled down and was able to provide a hilarious justification for his actions that led to his early exit:
Robin Lopez, helper!
“I thought the refs had done enough. I wanted to alleviate some of their work. They had an abnormally large workload for the first half of that quarter. And I guess not everybody saw it the same way.”https://t.co/AhKLNxiVeW pic.twitter.com/pKe5VxpYCO
— Amanda Kaschube (@amandakaschube) December 18, 2018
Lopez was T'd up for a second time for standing over Grant in a seemingly confrontational manner. The 7-foot big man even appeared to have thrown the ball towards Grant, which is a definite no-no, especially considering the earlier melee.
According to Lopez, he was simply handing the ball over to Grant so that he could shoot his free throws. Well, it did not look that way on the broadcast, and the game officials certainly did not take it as a friendly gesture from Lopez.
Nonetheless, it was great to have the funny and laid-back Robin Lopez immediately back after all the tension, as this is the man we've all gotten accustomed to seeing. He was absolutely fuming during the earlier squabble with Grant and seemed intent on taking his opponent's head off. This was one of the angrier moments we've seen from Lopez throughout his career, but to some degree, it is understandable considering how Grant almost effortlessly threw him down to the ground in one swift motion.
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