The Denver Nuggets defeated the 125-118 on Wednesday despite guard Austin Rivers getting ejected in the fourth quarter.
Rivers was ejected for throwing an elbow at Indiana guard, Lance Stephenson. When the game was over, Rivers got on Twitter and voiced his displeasure with the ejection.
Never in my life have I been thrown out of Game for something so ridiculous. Seriously…never😂. League gotta look at this one.
— Austin Rivers (@AustinRivers25) March 31, 2022
To be fair, a player will rarely ever publicly acknowledge that he deserved to be ejected. So, Rivers’ commentary alone doesn’t prove anything.
That said, the video of the incident supports Rivers’ take.
https://twitter.com/MrMatthewCFB/status/1509335267638923269
The ejection drew a boisterous response from the NBA world.
This is embarrassing https://t.co/eGA8epyrSj
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) March 31, 2022
If Austin Rivers had Covid, Lance Stephenson wouldn't have even been considered a close contact from that "elbow"
— Wes (@6ManYT) March 31, 2022
After seeing Austin Rivers get ejected for ALMOST elbowing Lance Stephenson ….the league need to start fining the refs for these ridiculous calls it's really making the NBA unwatchable
— Therealfrankielou (@realfrankielou) March 31, 2022
Hi, @nba.
Tony Brothers needs to be fired. Worst @NBAOfficial in the league by leaps and bounds.
That is all.
— Joel Rush (@JoelRushNBA) March 31, 2022
Eject Tony Brothers from the game.
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) March 31, 2022
Stephenson and Rivers had both received technicals for a shoving match immediately before the ejection. So, it’s possible that referee Tony Brothers acted quickly just to avoid another incident.
But there was no contact. There was nothing close to contact. And given that Rivers was looking right at the play, one obvious question lingers. What did he see?
Joel Rush of Forbes Sports quoted Nuggets coach Mike Malone after the game. At least according to Malone, Brothers felt that Rivers’ act was “malicious” enough to warrant another technical, even without the contact.
"I'm hopeful that Austin's able to get some money back."
Michael Malone says #Nuggets will definitely talk to the league about Tony Brothers' call to eject Austin Rivers. Malone told Brothers there was no contact, Brothers said it was a "malicious" act that didn't need contact.
— Joel Rush (@JoelRushNBA) March 31, 2022
Looking at the play, it doesn’t look like Rivers was throwing an elbow at Stephenson at all. He was just shifting his body position.
Following his initial tweet, Rivers added on Instagram that he’s OK with the was Stephenson plays — just as long as he doesn’t get punished for doing nothing wrong.
"I'm cool with Lance doing all his extra stuff. He's an irritant. Just don't throw me out for trying to get him off of me. Especially when I didn't even hit him or really try to."
Austin Rivers responded to Tony Brothers ejecting him for the elbow fake to Lance Stephenson on IG. https://t.co/TSEXM3aJSK pic.twitter.com/9L5eSGLhuf
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 31, 2022
[Mr. Matthew CFB, Joel Rush, Clutch Points]
