Last Saturday, the Pistons hosted the Suns. The first pick of the 2021 vintage, Cade Cunningham, then had a good match in front of his home crowd with already 19 points 4 minutes from the end of the third quarter. Came an incisive drive from the baseline, enhanced by a reverse dunk on the head of Jalen Smith. Taken in the emotion of his action, Cade points an angry index finger towards his clan, which the referee interprets as an attempt to provoke Jalen Smith. What had to happen happened, technical fault, the second, and the exclusion for the young prodigy who leaves with a disillusioned air.
In NBA history, Cade Cunningham isn’t the only player to have suffered from a somewhat tight referee. Too frequent are technical faults attributed by abuse of power, or even without any reason. Even today, some of those whistles still haven’t come out of our heads. Cade’s expulsion is therefore the perfect opportunity to refresh your memory with a good Top 10 of players who have been sanctioned… for not much.
#10 – Russell Westbrook vs Detroit
In tenth place, we find a small wild card in dedication to a somewhat lunar scene experienced this season. Little reminder therefore: Russel Westbrook is in the post-match conference, the one between Pistons and Lakers during which Isaiah Stewart sintered with LeBron James. One of the reporters then asks him why did Russ take a technical foul, to which the leader replies: “I took a technique? ». He then looks at the score sheet to find – taken aback – that he actually took one during the game. Unable to give a plausible explanation, Russell Westbrook deduces that he was certainly a collateral victim of the scuffles. Mouai, not ours Russ, we remember your septuagenarian guard who saw someone urinate on his rosebush.
Russell Westbrook’s reaction to finding out he got a technical foul from last night’s Lakers-Pistons scuffle ????
(via @SpectrumSN)pic.twitter.com/KceR0each4
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 22, 2021
#9 – Rasheed Wallace vs Phoenix
The Shed! Decently, it was impossible for us to shape a ranking on technical faults without mentioning the master in the matter. For Rasheed Wallace, getting kicked out wasn’t much of a problem as long as he did it with panache. His relationship with the referees is therefore very special, which may have earned him some preferential treatment from the men in gray. For what will be the last two technical fouls of the 317 of his career, Sheed breaks a personal best since he is excluded from the meeting in 85 seconds. In early December 2012, during a meeting between Suns and Knicks, the New York interior took a first technical foul for a tough intervention on Luis Scola. Nothing to say, it makes sense. But the second comes immediately after this firefighter exit and is, on the other hand, much more questionable. The technical foul free throw is missed by the Suns. Do you see it coming? Le Sheed beugle Ball don’t lie ! ». Enough to irritate the referees who give him his second technique, heading for the locker room.
Vintage Rasheed Wallace, Ball Don’t Lie pic.twitter.com/2ojsqrEwfy
— SportsTalkFeed (@SportsTalkFeed) July 18, 2016
#8 – Nick Nurse vs Charlotte
Eight, here is the smoothest technical foul ever called. This award is given to Tony Brothers who was quietly chatting with Nick Nurse, the coach of the Toronto Raptors. No sign of tension between the two men but suddenly – and in the greatest of calms – the referee puts his whistle in his mouth, blows a good blow and makes the gesture of the technical fault. A very nice way for Tony Brothers to inform his interlocutor that his remarks bore him. Frankly, being cut off like this is violent. The scene is strange to say the least and we still wonder what Nick Nurse was talking about with the referee: not the different fly fishing techniques, obviously.
Nick Nurse gets NBA’s weirdest technical foul for talking to ref (Tony Brothers)!
Video: https://t.co/Aph3ix6dHV
Toronto Raptors vs Charlotte Hornets pic.twitter.com/g52nSbu2vi— Chaz NBA (@ChazClavant) March 14, 2021
#7 – J.J. Reddick vs Boston
Here, a little guy who is less used to bad oaths. Right here, JJ Redick was literally sent off – after a second technical foul – for making a pass with effect to the referee. We obviously feel that the player is upset because he has just been whistled for a foul in the course of the game, but the pass is correct and arrives at the referee who receives it without complication. No apparent reason therefore, nothing that could justify the exclusion of the sniper from New Orleans.
“The second technical was for throwing the ball in the direction of an official with force.”
Crew Chief Josh Tiven on JJ Redick’s ejection. pic.twitter.com/nZIorVPIk8
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) February 22, 2021
#6 – Kendrick Perkins vs Indiana
In the sixth position, we find one of the mysteries we were talking about in the introduction. Yes, Kendrick Perkins was whistled a technical foul for… nothing. Except to consider that defending normally can be worth a technique. In order not to make it upside down to the readership, it is true that a small explanation is plausible: it is Joey Crawford who whistles this fault. The gentleman is accustomed to the fact and – spoiler – we risk talking about it a little later in this top.
The video is right HERE!
#5 – Grant Hill et Reggie Evans
Fifth place goes to a history of spankings. We explain: Reggie Evans is in full muscular defense on Grant Hill when the latter falls. The referee blows his whistle, the game stops and to patch things up, the two players then proceed to an exchange of spankings. The scene was certainly a little too hot for the taste of the referee who expels the two protagonists. Incomprehensible, Grant Hill and Reggie Evans run and type their best giggles on the way to the locker room.
The video is right HERE!
#4 – Nate Robinson vs Heat
Here we enter very bad interpretation. It’s crazy, Nate Robinson raises his arm as some did in a very sad time, except that this is to defend. Or it is the referee who may have misinterpreted, which is much more likely by the way. On a shot from the Miami parking lot, the small Celtics point guard reaches out, fouls and does not lower his arm after the foul has been whistled. A gesture deemed unacceptable by the referee who draws the technical fault directly.
The video is right HERE!
#3 – D’Angelo Russell vs Knicks
Very dangerous move, there. The higher you go in this ranking, the more players can be considered real criminals. In real Thug, D-Lo calmly and ironically applauds an arbitral decision from the Nets bench, then eats a technical foul. This sarcastic clap-clap was absolutely unconscious and we thank the officials for having found the right sanction to bring some order to this room, otherwise the situation could have degenerated.
Atkinson confirms that D’Angelo Russell will be put on a clapping restriction when he returns to action#nba https://t.co/Fkd1kabqLa
— Sam Huang (@SamHuangFan) January 17, 2018
#2 – Andre Iguodala vs Jazz
At the gates of victory, here is Andre Iguodala who could not find the right words with the referee. The Warriors talk quietly with one of the officials, just before making the throw-in. The action starts, Andre crosses the field, arrives in the offensive zone, then is whistled for a technical foul by the same referee with whom he was discussing earlier. We therefore have a person who is a bit long on the trigger who must not have appreciated the conversation with Andre Iguodala, and who took a long time to realize. This gives us a rather lunar scene where no one on the ground really understands why this whistle. This referee must be the kind of guy who only gets angry when his friends tease him: “yeah he told me that, that’s true, yeah I should have run into him, yeah not wrong guys, come on we’re going to stone his house! ».
File this under the strangest technical foul ever called. While Iguodala says *something* to the ref at the baseline, nothing happens as he jogs 50 feet down court before the tech is called. pic.twitter.com/6ZDWdzKLxq
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) January 2, 2022
#1 – Tim Duncan vs Dallas
Ultimate criminal, well known to the intelligence services, Tim Duncan squats the throne of this ranking. When you know the character a little, this place is somewhat paradoxical, but it must be said that Tim made an irreparable mistake by… laughing. No laughing in Spurs jerseys, Tim. From his bench the strong winger laughed and was therefore sent off. What ? Do you find that absurd? But not at all since it is Joey Crawford who is at the whistle. Nothing illogical then, quite the contrary. The guy was quite angry, so much so that he confided in wanting to fight Tim Duncan. When you see Tim Duncan in real life, you think you have to be a little crazy to want to fight with him. Moreover, following this game, Joey Crawford will be suspended from the NBA before returning the following season. We have our best all-time ejection in the NBA.
On this day 14 years ago, Tim Duncan got ejected…for laughing on the bench ????
That’s the highlight of Joey Crawford’s refereeing career right there.pic.twitter.com/XenLYRfand
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 15, 2021
Referees are an integral part of the game and follow the guideline decided by the NBA. For years, the latter has wanted the League to be as smooth as possible, without blunders and without violence, which pushes the referees to crack down when an ounce of tension is felt. If this policy greatly limits trashtalking between players, it at least has the merit of giving us some scenes as lunar as they are extraordinary.
