Thanks to Andre Drummond, we now simultaneously have the oddest ejection and the best reaction to getting ejection so far this season. Here’s the play.
Andre Drummond reacted to his own ejection with a huge grin and applause
Drummond was ejected on a strange play, but his reaction is totally priceless.
This is great. Most people argue, or sulk, or try to explain themselves to their coach, or just immediately get out off the floor. Drummond smiling and clapping all the way to the locker room is seriously the best ejection reaction since Larry Sanders gave every referee a thumbs up.
And then, about Drummond’s actual elbow. A few things:
- Drummond doesn’t appear to make contact with his elbow, but Roy Hibbert reacts like he’s hit. The angle here isn’t totally conclusive, and the broadcast doesn’t show a better one.
- Hibbert isn’t looking his direction at all, so it’s not a flop. There’s two possibilities: either Drummond nicked him ever so slightly with a hard thrown elbow and it was enough to cause that reaction, or Hibbert just fell or lost his balance at the exact right time. I can’t see any reason why Hibbert would be knocked over other than slight contact Drummond makes with his lower body. I’m honestly not sure which option is more likely.
- Regardless, Drummond did throw an elbow. This part is blatant, and it’s still illegal even if there was no contact. If there wasn’t contact, then maybe Drummond should have only been assessed a flagrant-one, not a flagrant-two, resulting in the automatic ejection. But I understand the dilemma the referees were looking at.
Basketball is one of the hardest sports to referee, and NBA officials clearly are in the wrong at times. But this one’s gray-ish at least. Feel free to comment/email/send me a letter about why I’m completely wrong and it’s very clearly the correct/incorrect call. Don’t @ me though.
