Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin was upset after being ejected Christmas Day during the team's loss to the Golden State Warriors, and it would seem as though the league understands why Griffin was mad as it announced on Thursday that it did not agree with the decision of the officials to kick Griffin out of Wednesday's game.
With 10:43 remaining in the fourth quarter, Griffin was thrown out after he got tangled up with Andrew Bogut and was trying to get free. Bogut was handed a flagrant foul 1 while Griffin--who already had a technical foul after he jawed at Draymond Green for elbowing him--received his second technical of the night and was tossed from the contest.
"After a league review of the Clippers-Warriors game, we have come to the conclusion that Blake Griffin should not have been ejected from the game," NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn said in a statement Thursday, according to ESPN. "A common foul should have been called on Griffin for initially attempting to dislodge the Warriors' Andrew Bogut and a technical foul should have been assessed to Bogut for grabbing Griffin by the shirt and wrestling with him."
Green was also ejected and eventually fined on Thursday to the tune of $15,000 for failing to leave the court in a timely manner. Griffin was angry after the game and felt that he shouldn't have been ejected from the contest due to the Warriors playing "cowardly basketball." The game was eventually won by the Warriors 105-103.
"If you look at it, I didn't do anything and I got thrown out of the game," Griffin said per ESPN. "It all boils down to they [the referees] fell for it. To me, that's cowardly. That's cowardly basketball."
Griffin said that the Warriors did a good job of selling it, leading to the referees calling him for his second technical and tossing him.
"[Bogut] got a flagrant 1, and I got thrown out," Griffin said via ESPN. "He was grabbing on to me, and they called the foul and he grabbed the neck of my jersey, so I tried to back up knowing I only had one technical, but they did a good job. They sold it. They fell for it. ... I feel tonight I got two technicals for nothing."
Clippers coach Doc Rivers said prior to the team's 116-112 loss to the Portland Trailblazers Thursday that he was happy the league acknowledged the mistake by the officials but that it doesn't do anything for them because they can't re-play the fourth quarter with Griffin on the court.
"We haven't benefited from it, but I think it's still nice that the league does it. It shows transparency," Rivers told ESPN. "The old league wouldn't say that, but I think it's good that they do say that. I don't think it's a bad thing. It obviously didn't help us but I do think it's a good thing; it shows that they're working, too. Just like teams are working to get better, they're working to get better as well, and that's a good thing."
Griffin and the Clippers travel to California to play the Warriors again on Jan. 30.
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