BOSTON — Jayson Tatum said he wasn’t necessarily angry or angry when he was ejected from the Celtics’ win over the Sixers. There were definitely complaints late in the third quarter, which is why not one but two officials signaled him a technical foul and ejected him.
Still, he was ejected with 1.1 seconds left in the third quarter of Friday’s game, the second early ejection in his career. He said it was not because he said anything offensive or inflammatory. If anything, he said he doesn’t think he’s worth the money he’s getting from his eviction. That’s why Tatum said he didn’t think an eviction was necessary.
“I was very surprised,” Tatum said. “You all saw what happened. You may not know what I said, but I mean, I guess at this point it doesn’t matter what I say. I don’t agree with that. One of the assistant coaches who was there with me Don’t agree with that. But it doesn’t matter, right? It’s like the referee’s words go against what we say.”
Tatum added that he was trying to have a conversation with crew chief Bill Kennedy after he was called for an offensive foul on a game he believed was hacked. Looking at the replay, it wasn’t Kennedy who gave him the skills, but Nick Butchert and Finizer Ransom. In the postgame pool report, Kennedy said Tatum was ejected because “he continued to complain about fouls on the court and openly gestured to the referees.”
While Tatum obviously disagreed with the decision, he noted that he wasn’t angry during the eviction or anything like that. He didn’t go back to the locker room to smoke and start throwing things. Instead, he just watched the Celtics beat the shorthanded 76ers. Tatum thought he was fouled and wanted to discuss it, even though it resulted in his ejection from the game.
“It was like they were getting ready to kick me out,” Tatum said. “Is there a magic word? Did I curse? No, I didn’t. I didn’t have to swear. If you watch the clip, you can probably read my lips. There were no hand gestures. … I was already in Being in the league long enough, I’ve seen a lot of worse behavior and reactions tolerated for longer periods of time. “So for those two guys to kick me out of the game, I’m shocked. “
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