The second half was pretty dreadful last night, with the Wolves allowing Detroit to score 71 points on their way to a 131-114 victory. It stinks to lose and the horrid defense is painful to watch. But that in and of itself was not the worst thing to happen in the game last night.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the worst flagrant/ejection combo in the history of this great sport*.

*This is based entirely on the fact that I watched this play live last night and decided in the moment that it was the worst flagrant/ejection of all-time because why not?

This play, right here, was ruled a flagrant-2 leading to Taj Gibson’s ejection. Seriously? How can that be the call? Andre Drummond is in an athletic stance, preparing to block out Tyus Jones. Naturally, he has a lower center of gravity than he usually would. Taj, then, comes over to box Drummond out. Anyone who has ever played basketball before knows that part of that process if finding the man you’re trying to box out with your arms/elbow before getting the rest of your body into them, exactly like Taj does.

Yes, Taj gives Drummond a clear forearm/elbow to the neck area. It’s also obviously unintentional and was part of a basketball play that occurs every time down the floor. If the officials wanted to call that a flagrant-1, I’d be completely fine with that. That’s probably the correct call, in fact.

Here’s the difference between a flagrant-1 and a flagrant-2 via the NBA rule book:

Now you might be saying, “Why do we care?” Well, friends, I’ll tell ya. This Timberwolves team stinks, STINKS, at defensive rebounding. They have one of the worst DREB% in the NBA. The last thing we need is this team being penalized for trying to box out for the first time ever.

Anyway, Drummond was clearly heated. He thought he was about that life. Taj had other thoughts. Give me Taj in that battle seven days a week and twice on Sundays.

Tale of the Tape

Taj Gibson

Height: 6’9”
Weight: 232 lbs
Wingspan: 7’4”
Were they born in Brooklyn: Yes
Are they about that life: Yes

Andre Drummond

Height: 6’11”
Weight: 279 lbs
Wingspan: 7’6”
Were they born in Brooklyn: NO
Are they about that life: HELL NO

Who you got?