Dalton Knecht Earns First Career Ejection Arguing With Ref in Lakers-Wizards

It's not totally clear what happened here, but the rookie earned himself two technicals.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht on Jan 25, 2025.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht on Jan 25, 2025. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
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Los Angeles Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht was ejected during Thursday night's game against the Washington Wizards, seemingly for arguing with a referee over what the guard believed to be a missed call on a three-point shot. It was Knecht's first career ejection.

With the Lakers up a comfortable 39 points with about a minute left in the fourth quarter, Knecht turned and walked toward the ref, presumably to protest what he thought was a no-call on his three-point shot just moments prior.

You can't make out what Knecht is saying in video of the moment, but his body language seems to suggest he is maybe displeased or confused.

Seconds later, however, he received two technical fouls and was booted from the game.

Whatever happened, though, it didn't cost the Lakers their lead, which they maintained to win the game 134–96.

Prior to his ejection, the rookie had racked up 10 points and one rebound across 22 minutes played. The Lakers have now won five of their last six games, while the Wizards brought in their 16th consecutive loss.


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Brigid Kennedy
BRIGID KENNEDY

Brigid Kennedy is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, she covered political news, sporting news and culture at TheWeek.com before moving to Livingetc, an interior design magazine. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, dual majoring in television, radio and film (from the Newhouse School of Public Communications) and marketing managment (from the Whitman School of Management). Offline, she enjoys going to the movies, reading and watching the Steelers.