Fans Couldn’t Believe Lightning Fast Ausar Thompson Ejection for ‘Contact With Official’

Several No. 1 picks were on the floor in Dallas Thursday night as Cade Cunningham and the Pistons took on Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis and the Mavericks.

The game marked a homecoming for Texas native Cunningham, whose night nearly ended at halftime following another heated situation where his teammate Ausar Thompson was tossed for arguing a foul call. As Thompson and Pistons center Jalen Duren fought for a rebound with a plethora of Mavs, Thompson was called for a foul after Dallas guard Ryan Nembhard came up with the ball.

Thompson took exception, presumably thinking he had gotten fouled on the play and got right up in referee John Goble’s grill and quickly got ejected him for making contact with an official. Check out the wild sequence below:

Looks like this light contact is what led to the ref instantly ejecting Ausar Thompson.

Pistons will have to go without one of their key offensive and defensive forces tonight.
pic.twitter.com/Q942z6sb20
— Jacob Richman (@JacobHRichman) December 19, 2025

This happened very fast… Ausar Thompson gets ejected after getting called for a technical foul for “contact with an official.” pic.twitter.com/LbD0LaJuye
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) December 19, 2025

There looked to be contact between Thompson and Goble, but it looked to be incidental and certainly light at best. Fans that took notice of the play couldn’t believe how quickly Thompson was ejected following the moment:

Ausar just got ejected for this?!?!?

WHAT????? pic.twitter.com/q21KHZFMHN
— Pistons Jack (@pistons_jack) December 19, 2025

I saw LeBron grab an official a few days ago & he didn’t even get a tech. Ausar Thompson gets ejected for that action lol okay
— Tom Riddle (@th3bunnyhunter) December 19, 2025

WOW. They just ejected Ausar. He's heated. That happened so fast
— Omari Sankofa II (@omarisankofa) December 19, 2025

They keep showing the replay of the ejection, Ausar better have said something about the man’s daughter beside there wasn’t no contact dawg 🤣
— Ku (@KuKhahil) December 19, 2025

that Ausar call is a top 3 worst ejection i’ve ever seen
— niranjan 🏎️ (@pistonswatcher) December 19, 2025

To make the situation worse for Detroit, Cunningham received a technical just before halftime, then coach J.B. Bickerstaff received a technical of his own following a heated conversation with officials on the way to the locker room which gave Dallas a free point to start the second half. Weird scenes in Detroit as the Pistons were not pleased with the officiating in the slightest.

Thompson had eight points, two assists and two rebounds in nine minutes before his night ended early.