Four players ejected after wild Thunder-Wizards brawl
Things got heated during Saturday’s Thunder-Wizards game.
Following a made shot by Wizards forward Anthony Gill just seconds before halftime during Oklahoma City’s 132-111 win in Washington, Justin Champagnie and Thunder big man Jaylin Williams got into it under the basket.
Moments later, Oklahoma City guard Ajay Mitchell got between the two and was subsequently shoved in the face by Champagnie, which then quickly descended into an all-out brawl between the two teams.
It took nearly a minute for officials and staff from both teams to eventually break up the fight, which leaked into the stands behind the basket.
The fiery altercation resulted in the ejections of Mitchell, Williams, Champagnie, and Thunder shooting guard Cason Wallace.
Williams and Champagnie received automatic ejections after being assessed two technical fouls.
Wallace and Mitchell were ejected after receiving a single technical for “for not acting as peacemakers and escalating the altercation,” crew chief John Goble said following the game, according to The Athletic.
It is still unclear if those four players will receive any additional punishment from either the NBA or their respective teams.
“I’ve never seen him like that,” reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of Mitchell. “But at the same time, I’m not really surprised by his reaction. He’s a tough kid, tough as nails. Not only on the court, but off the court as well.
“He’s as tough as they come, so I knew there’d be no back down when he’s involved in anything.”
Despite being in the mixup, Gill did not receive a technical foul, with Goble saying, “It was observed that Wallace pushed Gill into the altercation, and after falling to the floor, it was not observed that Gill did anything in an unsportsmanlike manner to assess a penalty.”
Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein defended his teammates, saying that he didn’t believe that just one Wizards player should have been ejected compared to three from Oklahoma City.
“I think it was unlucky,” Hartenstein said. “Anytime someone, from my point of view, gets punched in the face or hooked in the face, you have to stand up for one another. I don’t think all three guys should’ve got ejected and only one of them (Wizards) got ejected.
“At the end of the day, that’s the refs’ job to kinda make sure it doesn’t get to that point. But we just have to trust the refs and kinda go from there.”
Saturday’s victory marked the Thunder’s 56th win, the most in the NBA this season.
Gilgeous-Alexander has led the way for Oklahoma City again this year, averaging 31.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 6.6 assists while shooting 55.1 percent from the field through 58 games.
The 27-year-old is in the running for his second straight MVP award, and recently expressed his desire to take home the honors again.
“If you ask every NBA player that’s ever played the game of basketball, they all want to win,” Gilgeous-Alexander said earlier this week, according to Sports Illustrated. “Now the difference is you can’t just say it, you got to go out there and do it. You got to go out there and be the most valuable player in the world in the best league in the world, and do it night in, night out.
“And you can say it as much as you want. At the end of the day, you got to put the pens to the paper and be it. So that’s where I hang my hat.”
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