LeBron James was puzzled by Jared Dudley's quick ejection after coming at the defense of Los Angeles Lakers teammate Dwight Howard against the Orlando Magic. Dudley exchanged a few fourth-quarter shoves and was quickly tossed from what would be a 96-87 win on Wednesday.

“I mean, that's all it takes to get ejected? These days? Little shove?” James said after the game, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. “I've seen a lot more than that. But ‘Duds' will do whatever. He told you guys at media day his job is to come in here if somebody goes crazy, do something crazy to me or AD or whoever on the team, he's going to be the muscle.”

Dudley was quick to react after Howard was fouled by Jonathan Isaac under the basket with 7:06 remaining in the fourth quarter and he started jostling with several of the Magic players after the whistle.

“It was multiple guys and it was getting chippy already with fouls not being called both ways, then pushing someone in the back, just a push,” Dudley said of his involvement. “I thought it should be a double tech, but they wanted to eject, they eject, not that big of a deal.”

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Dudley could be right to feel this way, but James can't expect that refs will take Dudley's “role” into consideration when determining a sanction for those involved in the scuffle. If anything, being advertised as the team's henchman does Dudley no favors, as the NBA has clearly tried to eliminate fighting from the game.

The referees could have been harsh with their ruling, but being “the muscle” of the team is not a good reputational spot to start for these circumstances.