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Russell Westbrook travels to earn 10th turnover, gets ejected on same play

DJ Dunson

Russell Westbrook’s ignominious night against the Sacramento Kings ended after he turned the ball over for the 10th time in Monday’s contest. After he was called for a questionable travel in the fourth quarter against the Sacramento Kings, Westbrook became enraged over what he believed to be contact to his face that was missed by the official. Following the call, Westbrook sprung off the ground and appeared to shout expletives not fit for publication at official Matt Boland, who promptly gave him his second technical of the evening.

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook glares through the soul of referee Matt Boland after he whistled the Thunder point guard for a travel in the fourth quarter. (AP)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook glares through the soul of referee Matt Boland after he whistled the Thunder point guard for a travel in the fourth quarter. (AP)

It was the nadir of a rocky night for Westbrook. He finished an assist shy of a triple double, but also recorded a special trouble double by turning the ball over 10 times. It was the sixth time since the beginning of last season that Westbrook accumulated double-digit turnovers, which is the most in the NBA.

The Thunder pulled out the win without Westbrook, however, his ejection is another grenade tossed into the growing tensions between players and officials who have come under fire from the former for missing blatant game-deciding calls at a much higher frequency. They’ve also developed a hair trigger reflex for tossing star players and Westbrook may have wound up as a casualty for one night.

In his postgame remarks, Carmelo Anthony was not in the MLK spirit of conciliation and instead joined a growing chorus of players who have declared their disgust with officials, per ESPN’s Royce Young.

“I’m done with the refs,” Anthony said, cutting off a question about the officials. “No disrespect, but I’m done with those guys.”

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“The game has changed a lot since I came in 15 years ago, the players and the officials had that dialogue, whether it was good or whether it was bad, there was always a point where they would let you get a little steam off, and then would come to you and say that’s enough, let’s move on,” Anthony said last week. “And now, the trigger is too quick. You look at somebody wrong, you get a technical foul. You say one wrong thing, you get a technical foul. So I think that’s the difference from when I came in, the dialogue and communication and the relationship the players and officials [had] when I first came in and from now is a lot different.”

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DJ Dunson is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at dunsnchecksin@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or Facebook.