WATCH: Nets head caoch Steve Nash goes berserk, gets ejected after exploding at referee

The game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night was relatively uninteresting until the third quarter, when Steve Nash, the head coach of the Nets, was ejected from the game for the first time in his coaching career and had to be restrained by his assistants. 

After that, the game becomes significantly more exciting. The outburst by Nash did not prove to be enough to propel his team to victory, as the Bucks pulled away late in the game and won 110-99 in the dying seconds of the game.

Wesley Matthews’ attempt at a 3-point shot just under four and a half minutes before the end of the quarter was unsuccessful, and Kevin Durant grabbed the offensive rebound. Before Durant could turn around and carry the ball back the other way, though, the referee who was stationed closest to the bench signaled Nash for a technical foul.

Nash walked up to the referee and started asking questions while wearing a look that suggested he was perplexed. After that, he lost his composure and started waving and yelling at the referee while his assistants and Royce O’Neale tried to calm him down. They didn’t succeed because Nash kept showing anger, which led to him being taken out of the game quickly.

After the game, crew chief Josh Tiven stated in the pool report that “Steve repeatedly yelled out a very unsportsmanlike insult that was addressed towards the referee.” Steve’s comments were directed at the officials. 

After receiving his first technical foul for his disruptive behavior, he was given a second one for continuing to do so. Because he received two different types of technical fouls, the rules mandate that he be kicked off the team.

Nash wanted Bobby Portis to be called for tussling with Kevin Durant for the rebound, but his real annoyance was with Giannis Antetokounmpo for what he believed to be an offensive foul when he pushed down Patty Mills earlier in the game. When Giannis Antetokounmpo pushed Patty Mills, Nash thought it was an offensive foul. 

He said, “I was merely protecting our players,” Nash said in his statement. I didn’t think it was right for Giannis to punch Patty in the throat with his forearm in front of the referee. I didn’t think it was fair. I didn’t feel like I was being overly showy, but I was pissed off that I was assigned a technician. Because there is currently so much going on, there wasn’t exactly an explanation given for why this happened. I expressed my thoughts on the court, and that is pretty much all that took place after that.”

The normally reserved Nash, who was ejected from only two of the 1,337 games (regular season plus playoffs) he played in during the course of his 18-season career, demonstrated a huge amount more emotion than we are used to seeing from him.

 

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