Fans of the Toronto Raptors were left dumbfounded on Monday night.
Their team was playing quite well and seemed on its way to securing one of their best wins of the season against the Denver Nuggets.
But in the final minutes of the game, former Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes was ejected as the team was fighting to take the lead.
Following the ejection, Barnes opened up about being kicked out by referee Scott Foster, saying, “I was just saying something to myself. I guess he took offense to it so they just threw me out of the game.”
Scottie Barnes on getting ejected by Scott Foster: "I was just saying something to myself. I guess he took offense to it so they just threw me out of the game."
pic.twitter.com/6PSVMGdmZt— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) March 7, 2023
This was Barnes’ first career ejection and it was shocking, to say the least.
It’s still not clear what exactly Barnes said that raised the ire of Foster but he was quickly kicked out of the game, which gave the Nuggets an opening to build on their lead.
They eventually took home a 118-113 victory.
For his part, Foster said that Barnes was ejected because he “directly questioned the integrity of the crew.”
Referees are very particular about what players can and can’t say and their ruling is final.
It was surprising to see Barnes kicked out because this was his first ejection and also because he didn’t seem too animated or angry on the court.
But apparently, he was saying enough to catch the ear of Foster.
The Raptors were hoping to win on Monday as they are the ninth team in their conference with a 32-34 record.
Every single win at this point counts and a victory over the Nuggets would have been momentous for them.
Instead, the game ended in a defeat and one of the most controversial calls of the season.
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