NBA fans were furious with refs’ inconsistency after James Harden was ejected on a soft call

James Harden was ejected for much less than what Joel Embiid pulled earlier in the night.

Another day, another officiating controversy in the 2023 NBA Playoffs.

First, it was Draymond Green’s ejection for stomping on Domantas Sabonis and the kerfuffles that followed. Then, during Thursday night’s Game 3 between the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets, Joel Embiid slammed Nic Claxton with a dangerous kick but wasn’t ejected.

You know who was ejected? James Harden.

During the third quarter, Harden hit Royce O’Neale with a low blow that stunned the Nets’ defender. Harden received a Flagrant 2 for the play and was ejected, a stunning turn of events considering what the officials deemed legal on Thursday night. Here’s what Harden was ejected for.

A foul, to be sure, but to give Harden an ejection when Embiid received none certainly feels inconsistent, to say the least. Hilariously enough, later in the game, Claxton — who took the kick from Embiid — was ejected himself for taunting after dunking over the Sixers’ star player.

Yeah, definitely not the ejections people thought would happen during Game 3. NBA fans were extremely frustrated at the inconsistency of officiating during Game 3 between the Sixers and Nets.