Three players were ejected during the third quarter of the Lakers-Bucks game on Friday night at Staples Center, after Los Angeles’ Nick Young didn’t take kindly to a hard foul from Milwaukee’s Malcolm Brogdon.
Young responded by shoving Brogdon, and then Milwaukee’s Greg Monroe shoved Young. Lakers players D’Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram then went after Monroe.
The fracas resulted in ejections for Young, Russell, and Monroe. Young was ejected for picking up his second technical, while Russell and Monroe were given double technicals — auto-ejections — for their role in the altercation.
Here’s video of the scene:
https://youtu.be/U4UzAo_LBDw
After the game, Lakers head coach Luke Walton went off to the media about the refs choosing to eject Russell, and for a Bucks employee putting their hands on Ingram during the skirmish.
Walton said that he would’ve been “pissed off” had Russell not pushed Monroe, as “D’Angelo only responded after Monroe had grabbed Nick by the neck and thrown him.”
Regarding the Bucks employee that put his hands on Ingram, Walton said, “Don’t touch my damn players.”
Those are just a couple of notable lines from a press conference that featured many of them:
Luke Walton pretty upset about the scuffle. Main things: Russell's punishment = Monroe's. Bucks security put hands on Ingram pic.twitter.com/ELzsRKGF6H
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) March 18, 2017
Hoo boy. The rebuilding Lakers currently have the worst record in the Western Conference (20-49 after this loss to the Bucks), but their fans have to like the fire — and support of the players — they’re seeing out of the team’s first-year head coach.
