?Don?t Hit Guys in the Junk, Kick ’em?: After James Harden?s Dubious Ejection, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O?Neal Have Special Remarks

Thursday night’s game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets turned out to be an eventful one, with multiple incidents taking place on the court. Among them, the most significant one was the ejection of All-Star player James Harden in the third quarter of the game. While everyone seemed to be shocked by the referee?s decision to eject Harden, Inside the NBA analysts, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley made some pretty bizarre remarks on the situation.?

Harden was given a flagrant 2 foul for striking Royce O’Neale in the groin area. The incident resulted in his automatic ejection from the game, leaving his team short-handed for the remainder of the match.

Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal weigh in on Harden’s ejection

The decision to eject Harden was met with surprise and confusion from both him and his teammates, especially since Joel Embiid, earlier in the game, was given a flagrant 1 for kicking Nic Claxton in the same region. Harden also opened up about the decision on his ejection, calling it “unacceptable.” The inconsistency in the referee’s decision-making process was questioned by the Inside the NBA panel as well, including Charles Barkley and Shaquille O?Neal.?

Barkley, while commenting on the incident, joked about the situation, saying, “So the key to this play is, Earnie, you can’t hit him in the groin, you gotta kick him in the groin. If you kick him, you can get away with it.”

“So, Kids at home, do not hit guys in their junk, kick them in the junk,” the Chuckster hilariously added.

?Shaq, on the other hand, felt that Harden’s flailing off-hand was something that every guard does to create contact and gain a better position. In Shaq?s own words, “No, I don’t think it was a flagrant two. In this era of basketball, every guard flails with that offhand to either hook or to get a better positioning when they drive. About it, you didn’t do it on purpose, but he’s been flailing that offhand for years to get the contact.”

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Embiid’s controversial actions and referee inconsistency fuel tensions in the game

The inconsistency in the referee’s decision-making was also highlighted by Barkley, who felt that one incident was accidental, while the other was intentional. The fact that Embiid was allowed to stay in the game despite his incident was marked as further evidence of the inconsistency in the refereeing. The game was marred by several other incidents, with Claxton and Embiid getting into a fight within the first three minutes of the game. Embiid’s kick resulted in a flagrant 1, while Claxton was given a technical foul.

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The game continued to be heated, with Claxton and Embiid continuing to argue and clash. Claxton was given a foul for pushing Embiid in the back, causing the MVP front-runner to hold his lower back on the floor. Embiid eventually had to leave the court to receive back therapy, but he did return midway through the second quarter to rejoin the game.