The Memphis Grizzlies were on the short end of a 115-109 final score against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday. Memphis was forced to play the second half without star, Ja Morant, thanks to an unusual exchange that ended with Morant getting ejected.
Seconds after Thunder forward Eugene Omoruyi made a free throw late in the second quarter, a whistle was blown and referee Ray Acosta came in and ejected Morant, who was interacting with a fan in Oklahoma City.
Here is the moment Ja Morant was ejected from tonight's game. pic.twitter.com/eSm5xb0qvx
— Bally Sports: Grizzlies (@GrizzOnBally) December 18, 2022
This sparks natural comparisons to what happened with Draymond Green recently. Greeen had a fan removed from the game for what he said were threatening words. This, though, didn’t seem to be anything like that. Morant was not outwardly upset with any fans and even appeared to give an uplifting message to the fan as he was walking off the floor. So, what happened?
Joe Mussatto, a reporter for The Oklahoman, shed some light on the matter. The fan Morant was talking with was actually a fan of Morant’s, identified as Lisa. She apparently said “Let’s go” to Morant, who replied by saying “he can’t do much because (the refs) missed a call.”
This is Lisa, a Ja Morant superfan who lives in OKC. She was at the center of the interaction that got Ja Morant ejected.
“I was just telling Ja, ‘let’s go.’
“He was just like he can’t do much because (the refs) missed a call.” pic.twitter.com/KkZqQcIBiR
— Joe Mussatto (@joe_mussatto) December 18, 2022
Morant’s father was at the game and brought his phone over to Lisa, who then FaceTimed with the star — who, unsurprisingly, was not mad at her.
After the ejection, Ja Morant’s dad brought over his phone so Lisa could FaceTime with Ja.
Lisa told Ja how awful she felt. Ja, not at all upset with her, said “it’s all good.”
— Joe Mussatto (@joe_mussatto) December 18, 2022
With that news, there was a lot of frustration directed at the officials for being so thin-skinned.
The NBA refs and how they toss around technicals is insane. https://t.co/nX41HEguYf
— Randall Barnes (@AuthorRandallB) December 18, 2022
She paid good money to see Ja played and all of that was wasted and in all honesty i would ask for a refund https://t.co/T2gWfCB7gM
— J ⚡️ (@_kingj23_) December 18, 2022
So the ref went on an ego trip because Ja told the fan he couldn't do his job. https://t.co/yXhZ5unRM6
— Trey Crosby III Guru (@TCIIIESQ) December 18, 2022
#RefShow https://t.co/kMqdzuCs19
— Matt Carroll (@MKEMatt13) December 18, 2022
If anything, this tweet is underselling what a terrible ejection this was. https://t.co/IXN6SCjnNC
— Adam Jacobi (@adam_jacobi) December 18, 2022
The Grizzlies actually rallied in Morant’s absence, dominating the second half. But the gap was too big to overcome.
Unfortunately, there have been a decent number negative interactions between fans and players recently. This, though, was not one of them. So, even if Morant was being critical of a call, it seems like the NBA and its officials should be doing more to encourage this type of fan and player interaction. The refs in Oklahoma City on Saturday went the other way.
[Bally Sports: Grizzlies, Joe Mussatto]
