For the first time in his 15-year career, LeBron James was ejected from an NBA game. Afterwards, the referee who tossed him had an explanation as to why he assessed the best basketball player on planet Earth a technical foul before throwing him out of the Cavaliers’ eventual win over the Heat on Tuesday.
NBA referee explains exactly how LeBron James earned his first career ejection
He threw an air punch.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
“It was a culmination of a couple different acts,” official Kane Fitzgerald said to a pool reporter. “Immediately after the no-call, he turned and threw an air punch directly at me, and then he aggressively charged at me, and then he used vulgarity in my ear a few times.”
Fitzgerald also said he ejected James “on one technical” foul instead of issuing a double-tech, and that there was “nothing at all. Nothing that I’m aware of” in the third quarter that fed into LeBron’s ejection.
Here is the video of what happened on Tuesday night.
The Cavs still went on to beat the Heat by 11. Guess there’s a first time for everything.
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