Make contact with a referee, get ejected. It’s a bright line in the NBA, there’s not much gray area.
Less than two minutes into Friday night’s game against Portland, Washington’s Isaiah Thomas contacted a referee and was instantly ejected.
Isaiah Thomas ejected early on for making contact with a referee #WizBlazers pic.twitter.com/XbQ2wrw40d
— NBC Sports Wizards (@NBCSWizards) January 4, 2020
Thomas was trapped by Damian Lillard and Carmelo Anthony along the sidelines, with referee Marat Kogut standing just a couple feet away. As he stepped out of bounds Thomas falls into Kogut a little bit, Thomas likely would argue he was pushed by Anthony. However, Thomas seems to give a little push with his hands into Kogut, who falls back into people in the first row (Thomas likely would argue that was for balance, but he pushed his arm into a referee).
Kogut instantly ejected Thomas. Thomas walked around, saying “what did I do?” However, upon review, the call stood.
This is Thomas’ second ejection recently. He was tossed in Philadelphia for going into the stands to confront a fan, and he earned a two game suspension for it.
Thomas didn’t like that outcome, he’s not going to be happy to the fine this will cost him, either.