Coach

Watch: Lakers Coach Luke Walton Ejected

Lakers coach Luke Walton was not happy with the officials on Monday night in Sacramento, and he was ejected after a curse-filled tirade

The Los Angeles Lakers were winning 17-14 when their coach, Luke Walton, stormed onto the court and lost his head. He had to be held back as he promptly received two technical fouls and proceeded to continue berating the officials with a flurry of curse words that had lip readers at home gasping for air.

What was Walton so upset about?

Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins had seemingly confused Monday night basketball for Monday Night Football and tackled Lakers forward Julius Randle to the ground. Somehow, all three officials on the court had ignored the contact and allowed the play to continue.

Walton was not in the mood to ignore the contact. The Lakers' coach was livid. He ran onto the court and had to be held back.

"I just felt like I needed to stand up for my guys," Walton told Spectrum Sportsnet cameras after the game. "What happened on the floor wasn't right, and my concern is our guys in the locker room and our team. If I feel like something's not right, I'm going to stand up for my guys."

Sports

Get today's sports news out of Los Angeles. Here's the latest on the Dodgers, Lakers, Angels, Kings, Galaxy, LAFC, USC, UCLA and more LA teams.

Which school has the most NCAA Tournament men's basketball championships?

Life after Shohei Ohtani begins for Angels when they open MLB season in Baltimore

Eventually, Walton left the court but not before he removed his suit jacket.

Following Walton's outburst, the Kings went on a 17-7 run to finish the first quarter with a 31-24 lead. If it was a passionate move to draw inspiration from his team, it appeared to have backfired. However, LA did battle back in the second quarter and entered the locker room leading 58-49.

Then, the third quarter came around.

Cousins scored 16 points in the third quarter, which were three more points than the entire Lakers' team. As a unit, the Kings beat down the Lakers with a 39-13 third quarter than ended the game as a contest, though the technical fouls kept the game interesting in a WWE kind of way. Who would be disqualified next?

At one point, Cousins and acting Lakers coach Brian Shaw began to speak on the sidelines in a manner that one of the officials didn't appreciate. A double technical foul was called on the player and the Lakers' assistant. By the final buzzer, seven technical fouls had been issued on the night, six of which were put on the Lakers.

It was an oddly officiated game, to say the least. And yes, Walton had every right to lose his mind when the officials didn't call a foul on Cousins open field tackling Randle. He'll likely take a fine from the league office, though the lack of a call should also lead to an inquiry after the game, which is what Lakers guard Nick Young implied after the game in his comments to Spectrum Sportsnet cameras.

But the Lakers lost the game in that third quarter, not in the first period when Walton saw red and heard two quick whistles designed to discipline the furious 36-year-old.

Eventually, the Lakers lost 116-92 on the first game of their seven-game road trip and fell to 10-17. It was their seventh loss in a row.

In terms of positives to take away, D'Angelo Russell played limited minutes and made three of his four three-point attempts and finished with a total of 17 points and four assists in 20 minutes. Luol Deng continued his strong play and finished with 16 points on 7-11 from the field. Also, Thomas Robinson continued to be an energetic spark off the bench for LA.

Next, the Lakers play in Brooklyn on Wednesday night.

Contact Us