Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson received a technical foul on Thursday after getting physical with an official during his team’s game against the Phoenix Suns.
The incident occurred after Clarkson stole an inbounds pass from the Suns in the backcourt, found himself unable to control the ball, and ultimately ended up running into a referee. From there, he compounded his problems by seemingly shoving the official.
The NBA is extremely sensitive to violence against officials, so it will be interesting to see how the league chooses to proceed here.
Clarkson’s initial contact with the ref was harmless and accidental, so surely nothing would have happened if the incident started and ended there. The fact that 28-year-old chose to escalate it was objectively a bad decision – plain and simple.
Now we know what Mike Leach was up to while his team was brawling on the field. https://t.co/W6IYAcAdp3
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 1, 2021
Clarkson finished the game with 12 points on 11 shots and the Jazz ultimately ended up losing 106-95.
This past offseason Clarkson was one of several ex-Los Angeles Lakers to cash in big, so you’d think he would be much less angry at the world than he apparently is.
A final decision on Clarkson’s status going forward should come from the league at some point within the next 24 hours.
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Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7’s go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.