NBA Fans Rip Ref for Lame Technical Foul on Nuggets' Russell Westbrook

Fans could not believe this warranted a technical foul.

Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook drives to the basket as Memphis Grizzlies forward Jake LaRavia falls during the first half at FedExForum. / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Denver Nuggets star guard Russell Westbrook was assessed a technical foul for a bizarre reason on Tuesday night during his club's 122-110 win over the Memphis Grizzlies at the FedEx Forum.

During the third quarter with 1:25 remaining, Westbrook drove hard into the lane and finished at the rim through contact, making a layup on Grizzlies center Santi Aldama. And Westbrook let Aldama know about it, as he stared down the Grizzlies big man while jogging back down the court on defense.

NBA official Tre Maddox didn't like that and assessed Westbrook a technical foul, much to the Nuggets star's chagrin.

Westbrook pleaded his case but to no avail.

Russ was called for a tech after a stare down 👀 pic.twitter.com/vpnl64qCL2

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 20, 2024

Fans were not pleased with the Nuggets star receiving a technical foul, seemingly for the staredown.

Disgusting. No wonder ratings are down

— pawellwitt (@pawellwitt) November 20, 2024

Ref needs to be investigated for this

— Timothy Johnson (@MiamiCanes1971) November 20, 2024

U can’t stare ppl down anymore? 🤦🏽‍♂️

— 30🅿️roblemz (@30problemz) November 20, 2024

Soft ass league

— Finao (@Fiinaoo) November 20, 2024

The technical foul was otherwise an afterthought on a historic night for Westbrook, who became the first player in league history to record 200 career triple-doubles.

Denver is 1-1 in NBA Cup seeding games and is in third place in Group C.

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