WATCH: Miami Heat Star Victimized by Arguably the Worst Technical Foul Call in NBA History
Miami Heat point guard Kyle Lowry was ejected from Wednesday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers following what might be the worst technical foul call by a referee in NBA history.
With the clock winding down in the second quarter, Heat guard Duncan Robinson committed a foul on Portland’s Anfernee Simmons. As Simmons made his way to the free throw line, Miami appeared stunned to learn a technical foul was also called, with Lowry being the culprit.
Immediately after the initial foul call, Lowry gently tossed the ball back to referee Matt Kallio. Another angle of the incident shows Kallio even looked at the ball as Lowry tossed it in his direction, the referee was just unable to handle the pass and responded with a shocking technical.
oooh from this angle it looks like Lowry did nothing. yeesh pic.twitter.com/KKHxUTzi1m
— Fastbreak Breakfast (@fastbreakbreak) January 6, 2022
If Lowry pegged Kallio, then it would certainly be grounds for an ejection and even a suspension. But that clearly was not the case in this instance. If you’re standing on a basketball court and a ball bounces near you, the instant reaction can’t be ‘someone maliciously threw this at me.’
Following the technical, Lowry responded by appearing to call Kallio a NSFW term multiple times. Normally, that would be worthy of a technical, but the infraction was already called.
The unwarranted technical was Lowry’s second of the game, meaning he was automatically ejected from the contest because of Kallio’s blunder. Miami was able to overcome the seemingly bogus ejection, beating Portland 115-109.
After the game, crew chief Derek Richardson stated Lowry received the second technical foul “for continuous complaining and throwing the ball at a game official in an unsportsmanlike manner.”
Watch above via Bally Sports Sun
