Dwight Howard’s ejection for hanging on the rim should never happen again

During the Atlanta Hawks’ matchup against Boston Celtics on Monday, referees assessed Dwight Howard a technical foul in the third quarter for shoving ex-Hawks big man Al Horford. It was an understandable sequence of events given Horford’s hard foul on Howard’s layup attempt.

Moments later, Howard was ejected after picking up his second technical foul — for hanging on the rim.

Atlanta went on to win, 114-98, and Howard had been dominant up to his ejection, posting 17 points, 12 rebounds (six offensive), and two blocks in 27 minutes. He could have enjoyed his best game of the season had he stayed in the game.

The NBA later released a statement, reading Howard’s technical foul “should have been deemed non-unsportsmanlike, and should not have resulted in his ejection.”

Picture this: It’s Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in a possible Celtics-Hawks matchup. The teams are jockeying back and forth, and Dwight Howard soars into the air for a two-handed alley-oop finish.

But because he held onto the rim an extra 0.78 seconds, he’s assessed a technical foul. Howard was already part of a double-technical earlier in the game. Now, Atlanta’s best rim protector and finisher is out of the game while Boston rallies back to to win down the stretch.

All because an official got it wrong and tossed Howard out of the game. Does that make sense?

Remember the time Al Harrington cost the Knicks two games in one season as a result of technical fouls called for rim hangs? Granted, the old adage goes “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,” but those technical foul calls directly influenced the outcome twice — against the same team no less.

Imagine if those games had some weight to them?

In the NBA, technical fouls are broken down into two categories: Unsportsmanlike (cursing at or hitting an official) and non-unsportsmanlike (defensive three-seconds, delay of game).

A player who hangs from the rim and interferes with either a field-goal attempt or possession of the ball is assessed an unsportsmanlike technical foul. Howard’s rim-hang, which did neither, should not have been a “non-unsportsmanlike” technical foul.

He should have been able to remain in the game.

The short answer is no.

It’s almost impossible to set a standard for blowing the whistle on rim-hanging. Every scenario is different.

Players are running and jumping at speeds the average human being can’t fathom, and, in turn, are assessed technical fouls for plays that save their lives.

In a preseason game, Russell Westbrook was given a technical foul for hanging on the rim after finishing a dunk. Look again, and you’ll see it was merely a preventative measure that protected a walking triple-double from falling flat on his back.

On Christmas, LeBron James finished a two-handed dunk against the Warriors before deliberately flailing his body while holding onto the rim. He was not called for a technical foul.

Two Christmas holidays before, James was called for hanging on the rim in what looked more like an attempt to protect himself from a fall.

And then, there was 5’9 Nate Robinson, who was T’d up for holding onto the rim just a fraction too long after an alley-oop finish off of the backboard.

Rim hanging, much like many calls, is too loosely officiated at the discretion of referees. It’s a natural basketball act (unlike Draymond Green’s leg flail) that players use more as a defense mechanism than a taunt.

James’ extended taunt on Christmas Day was an example of a rim hang that should have been called for a technical foul by the letter of the law — it was a deliberate show of strength after a flushed dunk.

The league should get rid of the call altogether. It rids referees of the burden that comes with having to make the call and gives players one fewer call to worry about.

Is hanging on the rim really so heinous of a crime that a team should be penalized for it? Half the time, rim-hangs are saving someone from injury. Other times, it’s an instinctive act that comes naturally with attacking the rim.

The NFL has been widely criticized for limiting its players’ creativity during touchdown celebrations. So much so, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins trolled the NFL by walking off the field like a robot after a touchdown.

The NBA has long been at the forefront of innovation, but blowing the whistle on rim-hanging is a prehistoric way of thinking. It’s time for the league, as it has always done, to grow with the times.

Or else, it could risk becoming a league of all robots. And what fun would that be?