Chippy? The Rockets at the Kings started there but in the game’s final minutes went well beyond that with Rockets coach Ime Udoka and big man Tari Eason getting ejected. Then, as Eason left the floor, he threw a towel at a heckling Kings fan and had to be held back by security from going into the stands after the person.
Udoka had been frustrated with the officiating all night, and with his Rockets trying to mount a comeback from down a dozen in the final minutes, this play between Alperen Sengun and Domantas Sabonis was the one that set him off, and is followed by his ejection.
A look at how Ime Udoka was ejected, along with Alperin Sengun. This chippy game ends with a frustrated Rockets team falling to the Kings tonight as Mike Brown unloads his bench. pic.twitter.com/uFcmDTnylR
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) December 4, 2024
After the game, Udoka did not hold back going after the officials — throwing in some NSFW language — that is going to earn him a healthy fine from the league office in the coming days.
Ime Udoka absolutely tears into the officiating after the Rockets lost in Sacramento tonight.
“Take your sensitivity and emotions out of it and call the game the right way. It’s obvious right in front of you. John Goble, whoever it was, sees it and doesn’t call it, I’m going to… https://t.co/MI6Gb6YVkV pic.twitter.com/03EVS7NKFe
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) December 4, 2024
“Blatant missed calls right in front of you. They’re calling ticky-tack moving screens, and bulls*** like that, and then you don’t want to call the obvious ones right in front of you? So that was it. Alpie got fouled a few times on that drive, and on the layup, and they don’t want to call it. I told him ‘Get some f****** glasses. Open your eyes.’
“Take your sensitivity and emotions out of it and call the game the right way. It’s obvious right in front of you, and John Goble — or whoever it was — sees it, doesn’t call it, and I let him know about it.”
Soon after Udoka was ejected, the Rockets’ forward Tari Eason also was ejected for comments to the officials. As Eason was leaving the court, he heard words from a heckling Kings fan that had him turning and trying to get into the stands and having to be held back by security. Here is what Sam Amick of The Athletic, who was in the building, wrote about the incident.
[Eason] heard a heckle from a nearby fan and threw his towel in response while yelling obscenities toward the fan. Eason then attempted to enter the stands, running up the ramp that leads to the lower concourse at Golden 1 Center and nearly reaching the fan section when nearby security officials were able to hold him back. Eason, who was held from behind by one official and from the front by another who jumped over a nearby railing to impede his path, relented after a few moments and headed for the locker room.
That reaction could lead to a fine for Eason as well, as the league does not want its players going after fans. Expect Sacramento and the league also to investigate who that fan was and what was said that angered Eason, and if it crossed a line of common decency, it could lead to repercussions for the fan.
