Aussie Joe Ingles ejected from NBA game after shoving referee

Aussie NBA star Joe Ingles is facing a suspension for committing one of the no-nos of sport while leaping to his teammate’s defence.

Joe Ingles was right in the thick of things.

Australian NBA star Joe Ingles shoved a referee while leaping to his teammate’s defence in a scuffle that saw four players ejected from the game.

The incident occurred midway through the last quarter of the Utah Jazz’s clash with the Indiana Pacers on Friday (AEDT).

Watch the 21/22 NBA Season with ESPN on Kayo. Live coverage every week plus every game of the NBA Finals. New to Kayo? Start your free trial >

The Jazz were trailing by 10 points when star centre Ruby Gobert’s attempted lay-up was blocked by Indiana’s Myles Turner.

The pair got tangled up and Gobert fell to the floor, grabbing Turner’s shorts and dragging him down with him.

Turner was furious the Jazz star had pulled him down and gave Gobert a slight shove as they got to their feet.

The Frenchman didn’t appreciate it and responded by giving Turner a bear hug tackle before they grappled while standing up for several moments, before officials intervened and separated the two players.

While Gobert and Turner were going at it, the play had continued down to Indiana’s attacking end of the court with Utah defending.

Ingles could be seen keeping one eye on the scuffle and as soon as the whistle was blown to stop the play, he sprinted down the other end of to defend his teammate Gobert.

Things got heated between Myles Turner and Rudy Gobert after Turner blocked Gobert's shot. pic.twitter.com/O34Z7gckwC

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 12, 2021

Trying to get in between Turner and Gobert, the Aussie shoved referee Ed Malloy out of the way as players and staff from both teams rushed to join the melee.

Utah star Donovan Mitchell also entered the fray and appeared to exchange some terse words with Turner, who was taunting the Jazz.

Joe Ingles blatantly shoved the ref out of the way.

The Aussie was right in the thick of things.

After reviewing the scrap, officials decided to eject Turner, Gobert, Ingles and Mitchell from the game, meaning they took no further part in the remaining few minutes.

Without Ingles and two of their best players in Mitchell and Gobert, Utah couldn’t make a dent in the Pacers’ lead and slumped to a 111-100 loss — their first at home for the season.

Fans were stunned Ingles had the nerve to blatantly push the referee and believe he is bound to be suspended for at least one game.

why did ingles go for the ref like that lol pic.twitter.com/R5HHyBD2Eg

— buckets (@buckets) November 12, 2021

I kind of figured that something bad might be coming for Ingles after watching the replay but didn't expect ejection for him. I'll remind everyone here that we don't know what was said during all the on-court stuff.

— Sarah Todd (@NBASarah) November 12, 2021

Legit don't think I've ever seen Joe Ingles run as fast as he did down the floor at the beginning of the skirmish

— Ryan McDonald (@ryanwmcdonald) November 12, 2021

Speaking after the game, Utah coach Quin Snyder said Ingles deserved to be kicked out of the game, noting he “bumped into Malloy”, but didn’t believe Mitchell should have been ejected.

Ingles declined to talk to the media after the game.

Depending on the NBA’s punishment for the incident, Ingles, Gobert and Mitchell could miss Utah’s next game on Sunday (AEDT) against the Miami Heat.

The fiery scuffle comes after reigning MVP Nikola Jokic was suspended by the NBA for one game for elbowing Markieff Morris to the ground during Denver’s match against the Miami Heat earlier this week.