It's only February, but JJ Redick may have already locked up the "Worst Ejection of the Year" award.
Early in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game between the Celtics and Pelicans, the New Orleans shooting guard drove toward the basket and drew a foul on Boston rookie Aaron Nesmith. Redick, who had picked up a technical foul on the previous possession for arguing about a no-call, threw the ball in the direction of referee Josh Tiven and walked away without appearing to say anything.
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Boom. Second technical. Redick ejected.
Uh, what?
In a postgame interview with The Athletic's Will Guillory, Tiven explained why Redick got T'd up so quickly:
Guillory: What happened with the first technical foul against JJ Redick?
Tiven: The first technical was for use of profanity directed at an official in resentment to a no-call.
Guillory: The second technical foul on JJ Redick, what happened on that one?
Tiven: The second technical foul was for throwing the ball in the direction of an official with force.
Throwing the ball with force? As in throwing the ball hard enough for it to reach its intended target?
That's a pretty weak justification from Tiven. Redick didn't fire a chest pass at Tiven's back. He tossed the ball over to Tiven with a little spin. The NBA should rescind that second technical foul.
Fortunately for the Pelicans, Redick's early exit didn't slow down their comeback efforts. After trailing the Celtics by as many as 24 points in the second half, the Pels rallied to capture a 120-115 overtime win.
Redick finished the game with four points, three assists, one rebound and one ridiculous ejection.
