With playoff positions generally settled across the NBA, the league’s final day of the regular season was supposed to be uneventful. It’s why we saw so many teams rest key players. But no day in the NBA can simply be normal. That especially went for Game 82.
Shortly after Rudy Gobert got sent home early for throwing a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson, the Jazz-Lakers game had some strange drama of its own. It all surrounded the etiquette of Ochai Agbaji’s pass to referee Derek Richardson.
With just under nine minutes to play in the game, Agbaji was frustrated over a no-call by Richardson as the ball from Damian Jones’ dunk bounced in Agbaji’s hands. So, Agbaji turned and passed the ball to Richardson, but that pass was a bit low for the ref to handle.
Ochai Agbaji has been ejected from the Jazz-Lakers game after tossing the ball at the ref.pic.twitter.com/JFy3jv0l50
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 9, 2023
Ochai Agbaji just got ejected for throwing the ball at the official…
First ejection of the career, nice. pic.twitter.com/PXMzEOCc3r
— Jazz Lead (@JazzLead) April 9, 2023
Sure, Agbaji probably could have made a better pass to the ref, but that’s a bit harsh for an automatic ejection. Still, we’ve seen refs get upset over bad passes in recent years with J.J. Redick getting ejected a couple seasons ago and Jordan Poole getting T’d up this season.
So, maybe Agbaji should have expected that reaction.
But hey, if you’re going to end your rookie season early, at least make it memorable. Agbaji did that.
Will Hardy on Ochai Agbaji:
"He decided to wait until the 82nd game to get a bad-boy image"— Sarah Todd (@NBASarah) April 9, 2023
