Klay Thompson ejected in career first after jawing with Devin Booker, Suns

ByKendra Andrews ESPN logo

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

PHOENIX -- Klay Thompson was ejected from the Golden State Warriors' game against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night after picking up two consecutive technical fouls in the third quarter.

It was Thompson's first career ejection through 759 regular-season and playoff games.

Thompson had been verballing sparring with Phoenix's Devin Booker for several minutes through the third quarter. With six and a half minutes left in the period, the two continued to exchange words and then bumped chests, resulting in double technicals on both players.

As Thompson started to walk away, Mikal Bridges walked into him. Thompson shoved him away and shortly after was slapped with his second technical, leading to his ejection. He had to be held back by teammate Stephen Curry and Warriors assistant coach Chris DeMarco.

A total of seven technical fouls were assessed in the third quarter between the two teams.

As Thompson left the court, he continued to yell at the Suns' bench, waving at them while pointing to his hand, seemingly in reference to his four championship rings.

Thompson had been slated to play around 25 minutes against the Suns before his ejection. He finished the night having played 18 minutes, in which he scored just 2 points. Thompson shot 0-for-4, including 0-for-3 from 3, with Booker as his primary defender, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Before the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Thompson has been frustrated playing under his current minutes restriction as he returns to his full conditioning. At shootaround earlier in the day, Thompson said he wasn't expecting to need to exercise the same kind of patience as he did when he returned from a two-year hiatus last season.