Golden State Warriors guard Chris Paul has revealed why he was ejected from the team's 123-111 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. According to the future Hall of Famer, he called referee Tony Brothers a "TikToker" and said that he had too much power, which resulted in two technical fouls in the final 30 seconds.
The first one came with 22.6 seconds remaining after Paul fouled Tyrese Haliburton to stop the clock. Then, after Steph Curry missed a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, the Pacers grabbed the rebound and were dribbling out the clock when Brothers suddenly blew his whistle to stop play. No one was entirely sure what was going on until Paul started walking to the locker room.
During his post-game press conference, Paul explained what happened.
"Oh man, old Tony, he talking to me, I talk back," Paul said. "I called him a TikToker and I got a tech. That was the first one. I just said 'TikToker' and he gave me a tech. Second one I just said he has too much power, you know what I mean. He gave me another tech. He the judge, the jury and all that."
Following the game, Paul then posted a clip of Brothers on his Instagram story. "I don't even really care too much for basketball," Brothers says in the video. "I'm the judge, the jury, the prosecuting attorney, defense attorney, everybody."
And now Chris Paul’s IG story pic.twitter.com/aDJCSdAAKZ
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) March 23, 2024
The snippet comes from an interview Brothers gave in which he says he initially wanted to be a judge and doesn't like to watch basketball when he's not working.
Paul finished the game with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists off the bench.
The loss continued a recent downturn for the Warriors, who have lost five of their last eight games. Now 36-33 on the season, they are alone in 10th place and their lead on the Houston Rockets for the final Play-In Tournament spot has shrunk to two games. While they hold the upper hand, especially since they've clinched the season series versus the Rockets, they will have to finish strong to ensure they don't slip into the lottery.
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