Stephen A. Smith Blasts Referee for Giannis' Ejection

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith was fuming about Giannis Antetokounmpo’s ejection against the Pistons on Wednesday night.

The ejection was quite a strange one.

Antetokounmpo was celebrating a dunk over Isaiah Stewart and did a stare down as well as the ‘too small’ sign.

Giannis just got ejected pic.twitter.com/DBN4Izqwii

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) November 9, 2023

Giannis was handed a technical foul for the move and because it was his second of the night, it meant he was out of the game.

Smith was irate that a star like Giannis received that kind of treatment.

“I’m gonna call the league office today,” Smith said on First Take. “I’m gonna call the league office today. Who the hell is paying to see the referee? That is not a reason to eject Giannis Antetokounmpo from a game. That is ridiculous. That is a disservice to the fans, to the paying customer coming to see them play. That is ridiculous.”

The ESPN host knew that The Greak Freak has been ejected, but until Wednesday’s show, was unaware of the reason why.

“I did not know that that was the reason that Giannis Antetokounmpo got ejected from a basketball game,” Smith explained. “That is not a reason to eject a superstar basketball player who clearly the paying customer is coming to see. I know you get him 41 nights a year in the locale that is Milwaukee, I get all of that. Thank God it wasn’t a road game where you only get to see him once or twice a year. But for Giannis Antetokounmpo to get ejected for that reason is ridiculous.”