While the Boston Celtics had many great games in the 2022-23 season, Saturday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors was not one of them. The Warriors won the NBA Finals rematch decisively, 123-107. And in the final moments of the game, the night only got worse for Boston’s Grant Williams.
With 1:52 remaining, the Warriors called a timeout. Steph Curry, who had the ball when time out was called, fired a shot after the whistle. He missed, striking behind the rim and towards Williams – who clenched his fist and kicked the ball into the crowd.
To Williams’ apparent surprise, it’s an automatic ejection.
In the final moments of the Celtics’ loss to the Warriors, Grant Williams is sent off for a reason you don’t see every day. pic.twitter.com/pDdpEOepZ9
– The comeback (@thecomeback) December 11, 2022
Grant Williams has just been suddenly ejected as he returned to the bench. Scott Foster walked up to him and explained something to him, Grant seemed to say, “I didn’t know that”, then nodded and left. Williams kicked the ball out of bounds after the timeout.
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) December 11, 2022
And if Williams didn’t know the rule before doing this, he certainly does now.
Williams channeling his inner Mike Tyson on basketball has intrigued many NBA fans.
Grant Williams is easily the league leader in most unnecessary technology. What was the purpose of this?
— Gio Rivera (@sportsguygio) December 11, 2022
Now why is Grant Williams hitting that ball like that 😂😂
—Raquel🌹♐️ (@iamrockytee) December 11, 2022
Lord Grant 🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️ he left to get fined https://t.co/3fYvcKA2ey
– jo💞 (@jochantee23) December 11, 2022
The only remarkable thing was done all night https://t.co/Z0U3kwof2I
—Brian Dunn (@BrianDunn1) December 11, 2022
Grant Williams is a clown
—Jim Murray (@bigjimmurray) December 11, 2022
To be fair, you wouldn’t really know Grant was in the game all night until he was fired. #Celtics https://t.co/2zIyQH4bGy
—Steve Leibowitz (@StevenL57) December 11, 2022
Indeed, Williams struggled mightily in defeat. He scored just four points, grabbed two rebounds, had a steal, turned the ball over twice, and had a -6 on the ground. So he probably didn’t mind being sent to the showers a few minutes early.
It is easy to understand why this is an ejection. Although unlikely, a ball entering the stands with force can injure someone. It’s not even something the NBA wants to attempt when it’s preventable — and it certainly was preventable.
[Photo Credit: ABC]
