
VFL Dalton Knecht was ejected from the Lakers game in the final two minutes on Thursday night.
The Tennessee rookie wasn’t fighting, brawling, or throwing punches. Instead, it appeared to be something in the words that he said to an official that earned him the boot.
The video shows Knecht speaking to an official as the camera panned away toward the transition play on the other side of the court. Knecht doesn’t appear to be throwing a temper tantrum on the court or anything, but it is hard to fully peel back what was being said or happening. Perhaps Knecht was upset that a foul wasn’t called on his three-point attempt seconds before.
Knecht earned himself a pair of technical fouls on the play, resulting in the first ejection of his NBA career.
Dalton Knecht was ejected from Lakers-Wizards after arguing this missed call with LA up by 39 late in the 4th quarter 😅pic.twitter.com/HwSgdDDcsy
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 31, 2025
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Prior to his ejection, Knecht had tallied 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting and one rebound in 22 minutes of action on the court. The former Vol’s performance on Thursday raised his season-scoring average to 9.5 points per game to go along with 3.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.
Knecht was named a participant in the NBA All-Star Weekend Rising Stars Challenge coming up next month, where he will play on a tournament team with a chance to play the NBA All-Stars by the end of the weekend. The Rising Stars participants will play in a three-game mini-tournament with the winner moving on to the NBA All-Star mini-tournament as the main event of the event.
“It means a lot, it’s a good accomplishment,” the even-keeled rookie said about the selection via Lakers Nation. “At the same time, it’s just the Rising Stars game. I’m more focused on the season than anything.”
Knecht and the Lakers are 27-19 on the season so far.