NBA referees usually do a pretty good job of keeping games fair. In the sport of basketball, it can be especially hard to keep track of what’s happening on the court. All things considered, it’s actually impressive that they manage to call games as accurately as they do.
Sometimes, however, certain moments trigger anger and frustration by fans. On Sunday, that’s exactly what happened after Pistons rookie Cade Cunningham was ejected from the game.
After slamming down a powerful dunk late into the second half, the youngster was given a technical (his second of the night) for “pointing” at his competitor after the play.
Cade Cunningham received his 2nd Technical foul and was ejected for this. 🤨
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) January 16, 2022
At first glance, the point didn’t seem like a hostile act at all, and calling it worthy of a technical foul is certainly questionable. Regardless of the motives for that point, throwing out a player as good and exciting as Cunningham for something like that ruined the game for many fans and it’s no surprise they weren’t happy.
After the shocking ejection, NBA Twitter was buzzing with reactions from angry spectators.
https://twitter.com/VolTitansBraves/status/1482868616907350021https://twitter.com/1upmercy/status/1482824926105010178
That's the strangest ejection I've ever seen by the NBA Refs on Cade Cunningham.
— Aya Abdeen (@ayabdeen) January 16, 2022
Refs are so soft for giving Cade Cunningham a tech give him a break god damn
— ethan (@EthanHH_) January 16, 2022
These nba refs really need to stop being so damn soft! Like with Cunningham pointing at the rim.. he wasn’t talking shit to anybody, he didn’t push anybody, HE JUST FUCKING POINTED!!! How do you get ejected from that?🤔
— Tha Alumni (@tresleff0) January 16, 2022
They just ejected Cade Cunningham for literally nothing after a badass dunk. These trash refs have had a flat out miserable game
— So Wha? (@ryyansowa) January 16, 2022
https://twitter.com/HockeyVoxDB/status/1482830542605279236
Cade Cunningham ejected. Think I've seen it all now. Are refs in every sport just that bad?
— Jeffrey W. Messing (@messdog1) January 17, 2022
Cunningham gets a tech/ejected for pointing at his own bench after a dunk.
Lowry got the boot for literally passing the ref the ball.
Wtf is going on? Why are these refs in their feelings to be making such awful calls, are they betting on games like Tim Donaghy did? https://t.co/hGpZ4la7Th
— Troy (@blackmantroy) January 16, 2022
These refs are SOFT!!! Gained so much respect watching Cade Cunningham play in this game. Terrible call by the ref.
— MVPBOOKER (@DevinBookerMVP) January 16, 2022
Essentially, Cunningham got ejected for pointing and that’s a bad call no matter which way you slice it.
After the game, the Pistons star did not match the energy of the fans. Instead, he seemed almost apologetic for the whole situation.
“I had my people right behind the bench,” said the rookie, via Detroit Free Press. “I went baseline to dunk the ball, and he’s right in between me and my people. I probably should’ve read that situation better. I don’t really get into taunting too much. Usually I’m chilling after a play. I realized the situation after he tech’ed me up, but I didn’t think I was going to get a tech. I let coach Monty (Williams of the Suns) over there, let him know, ‘Good game,’ and stuff like that.”
This is hardly the first time a star player has fallen victim to a bizarre technical foul. One of the most famous incidents involved Tim Duncan getting thrown out of the game for laughing on the bench.
While this situation will be quickly forgotten, it is a reminder that officials aren’t perfect and that no player is immune from a misunderstanding with the ref.
Hopefully, Cunningham can stay out of “trouble” for the foreseeable future.
