Taj Gibson caused quite the scene in Game 5 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls when he got up from a tangle with Matthew Dellavedova early in the fourth quarter and proceeded to kick the guard as he got back up on his feet.
As you can see from the clip, though, Dellavedova caused the whole thing by locking his legs with Gibson’s and disallowing the power forward from moving freely. Gibson simply kicked his leg out to free himself from the lock, but it obviously looked worse in live action.
The referees got together to review the play and ultimately decided to eject Gibson while letting Dellavedova walk free of any penalties. Players around the league saw the replay and didn’t appreciate or understand the verdict of the referees. Understandable, given that the officials should have had the same replay as everyone else:
Gibson just showed what happens when you DON’T have your EMOTIONS under control. To leave your teammates when already shorthanded. Terrible!
— Bruce Bowen (@Bowen12) May 13, 2015
That’s BS. — ReggieEvans30 (@ReggieEvans30) May 13, 2015
Love when series get scrappy. Delly with a leg lock & Gibson just getting him off him. No way did Gibson deserve a flagrant 2. #WrongCall
— Jay Williams (@RealJayWilliams) May 13, 2015
Love when series get scrappy. Delly with a leg lock & Gibson just getting him off him. No way did Gibson deserve a flagrant 2. #WrongCall — Jay Williams (@RealJayWilliams) May 13, 2015
Can’t believe he got away with that leg lock
— chuck hayes (@c_hayes44) May 13, 2015
Man that’s Krazy smh!!!! — Rasual Butler (@RasualButler45) May 13, 2015
Peace Gibson
— ⚜♚⚜ (@QBronald) May 13, 2015
Delly should of gotten a technical foul. He instigated the whole situation. NBA has to take action on this tomorrow when revising. @ESPNNBA — Jay Williams (@RealJayWilliams) May 13, 2015
Weak
— elfrid payton (@elfrid) May 13, 2015
And the other cat nothing happen too — Kenny Anderson (@chibbs_1) May 13, 2015
— rudy gobert (@rudygobert27) May 13, 2015
There’s no way @TajGibson22 should have been ejected from game. #ridicules — James Worthy (@JamesWorthy42) May 13, 2015
So Dellavadova leg locks an opponent and gets NOTHING? No electricity in the NBA’s video center? What the hell are they doing? How lazy!!!
— Michael Wilbon (@RealMikeWilbon) May 13, 2015
Btw the officiating crew and the video crew they couldn’t see what ACTUALLY happened? Was Gibson supposed to let a guy crawl up his leg? — Michael Wilbon (@RealMikeWilbon) May 13, 2015
Everything happening points to the Cavs winning this game, but to be that blind and kick out Gibson while the instigator stays is lame…
— Michael Wilbon (@RealMikeWilbon) May 13, 2015
Jim Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
So, Dellavedova gets hit in the face, shoved to the ground, and kicked while he’s down … and he’s the instigator? To me, a leg lock shows incredible restraint … JR Smith would’ve clocked him. That said, Gibson probably should’ve just gotten a Flagrant 1. But, when you take the entire context of the game and the series into account, the refs clearly didn’t want things to get anymore out of hand than they already were. Then again, if Michael Wilbon says Dellavedova was the blame, it must be so …