Suns' Devin Booker Ejected vs. Lakers After Bounce Pass to Ref

Devin Booker was booted from Tuesday's game against the Lakers after questioning an official and throwing a bounce pass to a referee.

Tuesday's Western Conference battle between the Suns and Lakers was soon overshadowed by Devin Booker's ejection after two seemingly harmless technicals.

With 7:10 left in the third, Deandre Ayton was called for fouling LeBron James. Booker decided to take up for his teammate, saying something that the official apparently didn't appreciate. That marked his first technical. 

The 24-year-old threw a bounce pass to another referee with slightly more power than usual. A third official stepped in, handed Booker his second technical, sending him to the locker room early. 

Devin Booker gets ejected after bouncing the ball at a ref 👀 pic.twitter.com/kEj0hoMRNz

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 3, 2021

Prior to his exit, Booker was on a hot streak, totaling 17 points with six assists, three rebounds and three steals. Just hours before, the NBA announced its participants for the Three-Point Contest in Atlanta, Ga. this Sunday, which includes Booker. 

Twitter erupted with outrage on Booker's behalf, prompting debate about whether it was the worst or the weakest call. 

WTH is going on. How in the hell does an official EJECT @DevinBooker31 over something so innocuous??? The @NBA has got to start doing something about this. No fans due to Covid, we’re still loving how competitive this game is. We want Booker on the court vs the @Lakers! #BullS$&

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) March 3, 2021

That Devin Booker ejection is ridiculous. No one is tuning in for the referees. What a joke. The officiating is a major issue. Adam Silver needs to do something about it.

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) March 3, 2021

How Jeanie Buss looking at the ref who ejected Devin Booker pic.twitter.com/Bd3XWeKJLj

— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) March 3, 2021

Devin Booker and The Suns tonight: pic.twitter.com/yKQABdIf0P

— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) March 3, 2021

Devin Booker has to be smarter in that situation and rather than giving the ball to the official, he simply needs to cease existing in that specific cross-section of time and space in order to avoid the ejection. Simple as that.

— Kyle, a Madson (@KyleAMadson) March 3, 2021

Referee couldn’t handle the hard bounce pass so he tossed Devin Booker. Makes sense. pic.twitter.com/OBtLEzKhtd

— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) March 3, 2021

That was a good recap by TNT of what happened with that Devin Booker ejection. That is a ridiculously quick hook. Unless he said a whole bunch of magic words in a row, hard to justify two Ts that fast by two different refs.

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) March 3, 2021