Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans did not have a fun time Wednesday.
Not only did the Pelicans lose 120-102 to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but Davis was ejected in the second quarter. It was the first ejection of his career.
Davis yelled profusely at the referee after getting ejected and didn't leave the game immediately, prompting a response from the NBA on Friday, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
NBA has fined New Orleans' Anthony Davis $25K for verbally abusing ref and failing to leave the court after ejection on Wednesday.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 1, 2017
It was only a three-point game when Davis was ejected. He received the first technical after complaining that he wasn't getting calls.
Then after attempting to block a shot and being called for a foul, Davis walked toward the official and started jawing, earning him his second technical, which enraged him further.
A pool reporter asked the official who ejected Davis about what led to the two technicals.
The following is a transcript of the pool reporter interview following the Minnesota/New Orleans game with NBA crew chief Ken Mauer by Rod Walker, The Advocate. pic.twitter.com/tIHxFljWCk
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) November 30, 2017
Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau chimed on what he felt went on in the sequence where Davis was ejected, per ESPN.
“That play was a hard play to officiate,” Thibodeau said. “Because of the size of DeMarcus [Cousins], Anthony and Karl-Anthony Towns, it can get pretty physical in there. You can probably call a foul on any play when those guys are matched up against each other.”
Davis was clearly upset about the officiating in that game, but that still gives no excuse for the way Davis went after the official in the manner he did. Questionable calls are part of sports, and he well knows that.
In a way, it's surprising that Davis has only been ejected once in his career, being that he is a superstar and those types of players are generally harder to officiate. But Davis got his money's worth on that one, and it may have cost the Pelicans the game.
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