It was a tense fourth quarter between the Grizzlies and the Kings in Memphis on Thursday night.
Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant was ejected after he picked up a second technical for his reaction to a foul call against him when contesting a fadeaway by Kings veteran DeMar DeRozan.
Referees later admitted that the call was wrong to a pool report after the game.
Morant immediately seemed confused by the call, as were the announcers on the call, and he grabbed his head before punching his hand multiple times.
After that, Morant walked towards the bench while pointing in the direction of referee John Butler and saying something that was inaudible.
It was that exchange that with Butler led to the technical.
Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins was seen with his arms outstretched on the sidelines while another coach on his staff held him back.
Jenkins was chirping at the referee while pointing in the official’s face as Morant exited the floor.
Memphis was up by one point, 98-97 midway through the fourth quarter when Morant was ejected.
Referee crew chief Pat Fraher said in a pool report after the game that Morant should not have been called for a foul when he was guarding DeRozan.
“In the live play the official thought Morant bumped into DeRozan on his jump shot. However, after post game review Morant was in legal guarding position and should not have been called for a foul,” Fraher said.
The Grizzlies went on to beat the Kings, 115-110, at FedExForum.
Taking to X, Morant reposted the pool report with a crying-laughing emoji.
The Grizzlies play the reigning champion Celtics in Boston on Saturday.