LeBron James ejected for first time in career after arguing with referee

Skylar Rolstad

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LeBron James ejected for first time in career after arguing with referee image

Cavaliers star LeBron James was ejected for the first time in his NBA career Wednesday (AEDT) after he protested a non-call by referee Kane Fitzgerald. 

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Fitzgerald assessed James a technical foul after James gestured and then argued with the official late in the third quarter of Cleveland's home game vs. Miami.

On the play in question, James drove into the lane and rose to shoot, then was met with contact by James Johnson and Dion Waiters. After James didn't get the foul call, he ran to Fitzgerald along the sideline to argue.

It appears James made no contact with Fitzgerald before being tossed.

James recorded 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in 28 minutes. The Cavs won the game 108-97.

After the game, James had little to say of the ejection other than that he believed he did get fouled and that he didn't think the ejection was based on previous calls he was frustrated with.

"On that particular play I got fouled all the way up the court," James said. "That's what it's about. I said what I had to say and I moved on but [Fitzgerald] decided I should get two [technical fouls.]"

Fitzgerald

Pool report with referee Kane Fitzgerald on ejecting LeBron James pic.twitter.com/HeKwEzlksh

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 29, 2017 ">told a pool reporter postgame he only assessed one technical foul, not two, in ejecting James. He said the ejection was based on James using his foul language and James' body language.

"It was a culmination of a couple different acts. Immediately after the no-call, [James] turned and threw an air punch directly at me and then he used vulgarity in my ear a few times," Fitzgerald said.

Cavs coach Tyronn Lue laughed off the ejection in his postgame press conference.

Knicks center Enes Kanter quickly poked fun at James, calling Fitzgerald the "King of Cleveland" in this tweet.

Kanter and James exchanged soundbites earlier this season after James' comments about the Knicks' decision to draft Frank Ntilikina with their first-round pick.

Meanwhile, Fox Sports personality Skip Bayless accused James of caring too much about meaningless fourth-quarter stats to pad his stats. Also, Bayless got the quarter in which James was ejected wrong. 

Skylar Rolstad