Video: Amir Johnson Gets Ejected And Throws His Mouthpiece After Referee Tug-Of-War

Of the strange scenes going on in Portland on Monday night during Trail Blazers-Raptors, Amir Johnson‘s tussle with referee David Jones easily wins as most bizarre. Mind you, this was a game where Luke Babbitt dunked over Ed Davis going baseline and the Blazers won despite shooting 0-for-20 from three-point range — the worst mark in league history.

Johnson was on the low block on a free-throw attempt by J.J. Hickson with 5:05 left in the game. After the shot, Jonas Valanciunas also appeared to step in and try to take the ball from Jones briefly between attempts to rub or what have you may, but Johnson got there first. And then, didn’t let go. Jones finally released long enough to eject Johnson who, while being held back by teammates, chucked his mouthpiece at Jones. After taking his ball and being told to go home, Johnson’s apologies afterward rolled out without any protest. And with those also came bewilderment from his coach.

 

That’s fine. And I know players like to do this between attempts regularly. His apologies, though, don’t really shed any light on why he fought the argument to its illogical conclusion. (Bonus points: Watch for DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge‘s universal “C’mon man!” reactions.)

What do you think?

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