During tonight’s game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers, the official shockingly ejected Luka Doncic. This ended up turning what was a close game into a wash for the Thunder as they dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring the Lakers by 17 points. And now, we know who was behind Luka’s ejection.

Right after Luka cooked Isaiah Hartenstein and gave the Lakers a slick 109-108 lead, things got spicy courtside. A fan sitting front row couldn’t help himself—he started chirping at Doncic. And Luka? Well, you know Luka. He clapped right back. But here’s the twist: the ref on duty, J.T. Orr, thought Luka’s heat was aimed at him. Yep, you read that right. Orr didn’t hesitate—he hit Luka with his second tech of the night. Boom. Ejected. Just like that.

Now here’s where it gets wild. That same fan later admitted he was the one who threw the verbal jab that triggered Luka’s reaction. So essentially, a courtside heckle led to one of the game’s biggest stars getting tossed—and not for anything he did wrong. Not a great look for J.T. Orr, to say the least.

But that’s not all. Tonight’s pool confirmed that the official had messed up and thought that Luka Doncic had directed his words at JT Orr. “Why was Luka Doncic assessed his second technical foul by Orr? Was it the official’s judgment that he was speaking to him or to a fan?” This was the question posed to Crew Chief Tony Brother by Cliff Brunt during tonight’s Pool Report.

“He looked directly at an official and used vulgar language,” responded Brothers to the question. And this all but confirms what most of us suspected: The referee messed up. But do you know who isn’t happy in the slightest after this mistake ended up costing the Lakers? It’s LeBron James!

LeBron James questions Luka Doncic being ejected during OKC loss

LeBron James, who tried his best to help the Lakers to a victory tonight, seemed disappointed post-game. We get it, though. And when a reporter asked LeBron what he saw during the whole fiasco of Luka getting ejected, LeBron admitted to being perplexed by the whole situation.

“Weird couple of minutes after that, starting with the ejection. I don’t know why the ref was taking it personal. He had already gave Luka one [technical foul] and Luka knew that. Luka was going back and forth at that time with a fan…as Luka does when fans talk…But the ref took it upon himself to think it was versus him…And then the game was just weird as hell after that moment,” said LeBron.

Now, this is simply LeBron speaking what’s probably on every Lakers fan’s mind. The entire situation with Luka and then the technical on Vando soon after was quite weird. Moreover, the spotty officiating in the NBA seems to be getting worse every day. However, with how the league protects the game officials, change does not seem to be on the horizon.

But shouldn’t things be different when officials admit to making a mistake during a game? What do you think? Should J.T. Orr be penalized for ejecting Luka Doncic over a misunderstanding? Or are things good the way they are? We can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this!