The All-Star break was meant to give NBA players not part of the weekend a chance to unwind. The extended break helps them recover but mainly gets their minds right. However, the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t coming out of the break with steam. It’s been a frustrating night against the Charlotte Hornets, the team they tried trading with during the NBA trade deadline. And Austin Reaves’ uncharacteristic display summed up their emotions.

Reaves attempted to drive the ball into the lane during the narrowly separated game against Charlotte. He thought there was a clear foul, but the officials didn’t. The undrafted guard stormed at the referee, warranting a technical. However, just seconds later, the same official blew his whistle for a technical again, this time ejecting Reaves from the game.

By the looks of it, the up-and-coming Lakers guard didn’t say a great deal, nor did his fury toward the ref continue after the first technical. In fact, Austin Reaves walked away, appearing to mouth something brief before turning his back. It was the first time in his NBA career that the Lakers guard has faced an ejection.

The vivacious shooting guard could face a $4000 fine for the same. The entire Lakers bench and players protested against Reaves’ ejection. And the Laker Nation too expressed their disdain over the decision.

NBA fans can’t believe Austin Reaves was ejected

The situation seemed necessarily overblown for the Lakers fans. Austin Reaves did charge aggressively toward the referee after a no call. Hence, nobody argued against him being hit with a technical foul. But immediately after, he walked away from the referee. Moreover, he didn’t display any retaliatory actions. Hence, a fan wrote, “I get the first tech, but you got the damn call wrong just let it go like you let the blatant foul go,”. And many would agree with him. Austin Reaves didn’t have an aggrieved reaction to the first technical foul. He seemed to accept it. But the second technical seemed unwarranted.

It just didn’t seem right. And that’s why a few fans made some wild accusations towards the refereeing crew. “Wonder how much money that ref had on the Austin Reaves under. NBA is such trash these days,” they wrote. Prior to Reaves’ ejection, the Lakers lacked the flair they usually play with. Reaves was part of the reason. He only scored 8 points before being ejected, shooting just 3-9 for the game. However, he has shown time and again that when the team needs to be ignited, he is a reliable pivot.

That’s one reason fans took to their feet when Austin Reaves was forced out of the game. With the game being a close affair and Luka Doncic not being in his groove, Reaves seemed invaluable. “Austin Reaves is too valuable to the team to be getting ejected. If we let these bum a** Hornets beat us, I swear,” a fan feared. 

His ejection led to immediate punishment, too. The Hornets jumped to an 18-1 run from the time of Reaves’ ejection. Luckily, a blistering run from LeBron James and the Lakers helped the Purple and Gold get right back into the game. Now, the game hangs in the balance.

Yet regardless of the result, NBA fans are growing tired of the way such stars of the game are getting ejected. Austin Reaves was charged up. However, his dismissal in such an enthralling game didn’t sit well with a fan. They said, “This is Austin Reaves ejection is legitimately the SOFTEST ejection ever… and we sit here and wonder why the ratings are down. Unbelievable,” a fan speculates. 

Another fan wrote, “That was unnecessary! That referee was wrong for that!”. While maybe not a large part of the reason, such decisions do regularly frustrate fans. And with the regularity of such calls, viewers aren’t tuning into games for as long. Moreover, it is also a disservice to those present in the arena who have paid hefty money to witness their favorite players play.