Chaos in Memphis! The Raptors headed into tonight’s Grizzlies clash hoping to snap their eight-game losing streak. However, they got dominated from the get-go and could not find a way to make a comeback. Sure enough, it led to frustrations in their camp and things reached a tipping point when Darko Rajakovic got tossed from the game for going off at official J.T. Orr.
Well, the incident occurred early in the fourth quarter. With his team trailing by double digits, Scottie Barnes drove to the basket for a layup attempt. But he missed the shot after a physical contest by Jaren Jackson Jr. Adding to the Raptors’ trouble, the referee never blew the whistle and Scotty Pippen Jr. scored an easy bucket on the other end.
As it turns out, Rajakovic was not pleased with the no-call on Barnes as he believed the forward got fouled on the previous play. Taking everyone by surprise, the head coach rushed to the court and charged at referee Orr while yelling at him and seemingly cursing him out.
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Seeing Darko’s animated outburst, Barnes stepped in the middle of him and the official, trying to hold the head coach back to avoid the altercation from escalating.
Darko Rajakovic was NOT happy with a non-call on a Scottie Barnes drive.
A lot of Serbian cuss words as he gets ejected (I assume) pic.twitter.com/UByberCIuL
— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) December 27, 2024
Unfortunately, whatever Rajakovic did was enough to get him ejected from the game. And Orr’s decision riled up the coach even more as he continued to chirp at the official while heading to the locker room.
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Sure enough, the Raptors could not recover after Darko’s ejection and they got blown out by 29 points, extending their losing streak to nine games. Moreover, this is not the first time Rajakovic has had such a reaction.
Darko Rajakovic’s fuming rant after last season’s loss to the Lakers
Although tonight’s outburst got Darko ejected, there is no saying that he won’t have that kind of reaction again. That’s because he has called out the referees in the past. Just last season, after his team lost to the Lakers, Darko expressed his frustration about the free-throw disparity in the final quarter, “It’s outrageous. What happened tonight, this is completely BS. This is shame. Shame for the referees. Shame for the league to allow this.”
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Well, he was referring to Anthony Davis getting eleven free throws in the final quarter while Barnes got only two in the whole game. “How is that possible? How are you going to explain that to me?” Darko questioned.
Going by his viral rant and tonight’s animated reaction, it is clear that Rajakovic does not fear calling out the authorities when he believes they are in the wrong.
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Did Darko Rajakovic's ejection show passion or poor sportsmanship? What's your take on his reaction?
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