An NBA game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Washington Wizards turned ugly as an on-court brawl broke out between the two teams – leading to four ejections.
The initial fight was sparked between Oklahoma City’s Jaylin Williams and Washington’s Justin Champagnie less than a minute before halftime on Saturday.
Teammates of both assailants rushed to their defense, which only increased the scale and scope of the fracas.
Oklahoma City guard Ajay Mitchell contacted Champagnie that led to the two spilling into the rows of fans along the baseline.
Another part of the pile landed on a video camera man who was also positioned along the baseline.
Others who were involved included Wizards forward Anthony Gill and Thunder guard Cason Wallace.
A brawl broke out between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Washington Wizards
Players shoved each other and threw punches just before the first half came to an end
Four players were ejected – three from OKC, one from Washington – after the fracas
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Williams and Champagnie were each assessed a pair of technical fouls, leading to their automatic ejections. Mitchell and Wallace were both also ejected, receiving a single technical each.
Crew Chief John Goble told a pool reporter after the game that the ejections for Mitchell and Wallace were handed down ‘for not acting as peacemakers and escalating the altercation.’
‘I’ve never seen him like that,’ reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of Mitchell. ‘But at the same time, I’m not really surprised by his reaction.
‘He’s a tough kid, tough as nails. Not only on the court, but off the court as well. He’s as tough as they come, so I knew there’d be no back down when he’s involved in anything.’
Other Oklahoma City players didn’t agree with the decision to distribute an uneven number of ejections for the two sides.
‘I think it was unlucky,’ Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein said. ‘Anytime someone, from my point of view, gets punched in the face or hooked in the face, you have to stand up for one another. I don’t think all three guys should’ve got ejected and only one of them (Wizards) got ejected.
‘At the end of the day, that’s the refs’ job to kinda make sure it doesn’t get to that point. But we just have to trust the refs and kinda go from there.’
The Thunder won the game 132-111. Gilgeous-Alexander dropped 40 points while Hartenstein managed nine points, 20 rebounds and ten assists.
