Isaiah Thomas Ejected Less Than 2 Minutes Into Game For Shoving Ref

Was there malicious intent here?

BYCole Blake
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Friday night, Wizards' point guard Isaiah Thomas was ejected within the first two minutes of the game against the Trail Blazers for shoving an official. 

https://twitter.com/_/status/1213273137426681857

During a tie-up with Carmelo Anthony, Thomas put his hand on referee Marat Kogut, perhaps incidentally, and was subsequently ejected. After review, the call was upheld.

ESPN reports that crew chief Mark Ayotte explained the decision in a pool report saying, "He made physical contact with the referee. It was definitely just a push during the dead ball contact with the referee.''

"I mean I had a different view of it obviously," Wizards Coach Scott Brooks explained, according to ESPN. "They were in a scrum and they were fighting for the ball, a jump ball. I had a view that it looked like he lost his balance but [Kogut] had a better view and then they looked at it. They looked at it so you would hope they made the right call.''

The Wizards lost to the Trail Blazers 122-103

This ejection contributes to a shakey few weeks for Thomas. The point guard was suspended for 2 games after going into the stands to confront a fan on Dec. 21. 

The Wizards' next game is against the Nuggets on Saturday.


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About The Author
Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.