“Russell Westbrook made the ref’s head bounce”: When the then Thunder star hilariously got a technical foul for hitting the official’s head with the ball after the buzzer

Tonoy Sengupta | 09/08/2021
"Russell Westbrook made the ref’s head bounce": When the then Thunder star hilariously got a technical foul for hitting the official's head with the ball after the buzzer

Russell Westbrook once got a technical for hilariously throwing the ball at an official’s head during his Thunder days

 

Russell Westbrook is probably one of the most passionate players in NBA history. His mean dunks, furious drives to the rim, and overall personality make him the favorite NBA player of many in the NBA community. Simply put, if he scores on you, you’re going to be hearing about it.

The thing is, while we as fans love his ferocity, he isn’t quite the officials’ favorite player. In fact, it’s probably safer to assume that the reality is far from it.

Given the state of NBA officiating right now, players are handed out technical fouls like walking sticks to the elderly. So, when you have a player like the Brodie, who falls even a little out of line, what do you do? You can probably guess the answer.

Thing is, the referees are human as well, so they can make mistakes. And one of these incidents from Russ’s OKC Thunder days is pretty funny.

Let’s get into it.

Also Read: Lonzo Ball joins in on the hype as LiAngelo Ball pours in an incredible 16 points in just 16 minutes during his NBA Summer League debut

 

Russell Westbrook hilariously got a technical by throwing the ball at an official’s head after the buzzer

At this point, we’re pretty sure the NBA has a blacklist filled with controversial players that can get t’d up for just about anything. At the tippy-top, you have DeMarcus Cousins who probably can’t smile on the court without the official giving him a dirty look. And we don’t imagine Russell Westbrook is too far behind.

Speaking of the Brodie though, he had one such run-in with the officials in 2017. And while we’d love to explain it all, you’re going to have to see it for yourself to believe what happened. Take a look at the YouTube clip below.

We couldn’t find it, but we wonder if Russ got on Shaqtin’ A Fool for that.

Jokes aside though, we really do believe it was nothing more than a mistake. It’s funny now. But if this happened in an all-important playoff game with elimination on the line, there could be some serious consequences.

The NBA needs to look into just how much freedom the officials are allowed. Otherwise, we could one day see the joy of watching these games being sapped completely for fans around the NBA.

Also Read: LiAngelo Ball reacts to his very impressive 16 point explosion off the bench in his NBA Summer League debut

Post Edited By: Tonoy Sengupta
Charlotte Hornets NBA OKC Thunder Russell Westbrook

About the author

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta is a Senior Editor at The SportsRush. Coming from an athletically inclined family, he has been surrounded by sports ever since he was 4 years old. But, while initially pouring all his time into Football (soccer), at 14, Tonoy discovered basketball through the countless highlights of Stephen Curry humiliating players from Curry Land. And just like that, a fiery passion for the game was ignited within Tonoy. And soon after, he decided to become a student of journalism, graduating in 2022, and choosing sports as his area of interest. Today, you can find him spending 99% of his time browsing through every type of content on every team in the NBA, before uncorking everything he has found to the world. In the 1% he isn't doing this, you can find him playing Basketball, Football, Volleyball, or practically any other sport he has had the opportunity to learn.

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